Udupi: BJP workers gather at Raghupati Bhat's house, urge him to contest election
Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (NM)
Udupi, Mar 30: Hundreds of BJP workers gathered in front of MLA Raghupati Bhat's house here on Saturday March 30 and demanded that he contest for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Raghupati Bhat had withdrawn his candidature after a CD allegedly involving him in sexual act with an unidentified woman was released to media channels recently.
The BJP leaders and workers, including some members of city assembly and panchayat, requested him to contest in the coming elections and promised full support to him.
However, Raghupati Bhat declined to accept their pleas.
“I do not want to contest in this election. Sex CD is nothing but conspiracy against me by my enemies. Contesting in this election will be against the ethics of BJP and will affect the party," he said.
“Apart from the two incidents of Malpe rave party and the mysterious death of my wife, my enemies had no other issue to disgrace my name. They could not fight against me in terms of development whether in terms of road infrastructure or solving water scarcity problem. This time, they have created the sex CD issue,” he said adding that his enemies have been trying hard to end his political life.
However, unconvinced with the explanations, the party workers urged him to contest elections independently if he felt his candidature woud affect BJP. They promised full support to him.
Bhat refused to contest independently too. "If I contest independently it would still affect BJP. Moreover, I do not want any sympathy votes, and hence I have decided not to contest," he said.
Responding to the demands, Raghupati Bhat promised to consult senior party leaders and then decide.
Nevertheless, the party workers kept shouting slogans and refused to leave his house if their demands were not met.
The party workers later dispersed after Bhat assured them that he would consider their plea and take the final decision in a few days' time. He also said that he would abide by the party's decision in the matter.
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