Sought BJP ticket to contest Belagavi Lok Sabha seat, says Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik

BENGALURU: Shri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on Sunday claimed he has sought a BJP ticket to contest the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat and said this would be his final attempt to enter active politics.

"I am aspiring to become an MP from Belagavi and have sought a ticket from the BJP," Muthalik told PTI.

Muthalik had sought a BJP ticket from the state unit in February and had met senior BJP and RSS leaders in this regard.

He said this would be his final attempt to get into active politics.

"This is my last chance to get into electoral politics because I am 66 now. If I miss the opportunity, which seems unlikely, I will not contest elections in future," he said.

Muthalik was removed from the BJP in June 2014 just hours after he was inducted into the state unit in Karnataka.

He had hit the headlines after Ram Sene activists assaulted women in a pub at Mangalore in 2009 in an act of moral policing.

The Belagavi Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the demise of sitting BJP MP and Minister of state for Railways Suresh Angadi a few months ago in Delhi due to coronavirus.