Mangaluru: The BJP, on April 20, surprisingly gave precedence to a former Janata Dal (S) leader Dr. Y Bharath Shetty, by opting to field him as its candidate from Mangaluru North Constituency over long time party loyalists Satyajit Surathkal and former minister Krishna J Palemar, thus disappointing several of their supporters. Bharat Shetty had joined the BJP a few years back after he was approached by RSS and BJP leaders.
Expressing his dissent on the choice of the party candidate, Palemar alleged “game-play” by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel as the reason for him not getting a ticket. Meanwhile, it is rumoured that Satyajit Surthkal, who too was aspiring for a ticket from the Mangaluru North Constituency will now be contesting as an Independent candidate.
Satyajith, who has been involved in the Ayodhya Ram Temple cause, rose to fame soon after he along with Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde and Ramesh Kasargod (BJP leader) hoisted the tricolor at Hubli’s Idgah Maidan. This particular incident had led to imposition of a 57-hour curfew in the region post clashes that left five dead.
Hailing from the Billava community, Satyajit had joined the RSS way back in 1980s. Having completed his Second Official Training Camp at RSS, he was later given various responsibilities in Sangh Parivar and has been campaigning for BJP since 1989.
Identifed with Hindu Jagarana Vedhike, Satyajit Surthkal dedicated himself as a fulltime worker of right wing organisation between 1992 to 2004 and had managed various responsibilities of the organisation ranging from Nagarasanchalak to Karnataka Organising Secretary (Dakshina Pranthya Sanchalak) under the leadership of Jagadish Karanth.
Wanting to foray into mainstream politics, Satyajit recently joined the BJP after quitting Hindu Jagarana Vedhike.
Expressing anger over denial of ticket to Satyajit Surathkal, the Billava community members, as per sources, are opining that they are only being used as foot soldiers to propagate Hindutva ideology and when it came to distributing tickets, the party offered four tickets to leaders from Bunt communities in Dakshina Kannada.
