Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Jan 14: After being expelled from the Karnataka BJP just five hours after his induction in March 2014, Hindu vigilante group Sri Rama Sene leader Pramod Muthalik is all set to avenge his 'insult' by establishing the Shiv Sena in Karnataka.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Muthalik was inducted into the Karnataka BJP which aimed to field him as its candidate. However, the leader infamous for the 2009 Mangaluru pub attack and other instances of moral policing was expelled a few hours later on the orders of the party’s central leadership.

"It all took five hours. At 11 am on March 24, I was inducted and at 4 pm I was expelled," he told the media.

The Karnataka unit of Shiv Sena launched on January 12 could be disadvantageous for the BJP and may eat up their votes, especially in the regions bordering Maharashtra which has a substantial Marathi population and in coastal Karnataka where Sri Rama Sene has a strong network.

Muthalik revealed that the Sri Rama Sene will remain an independent cultural organisation but its cadres will work for Shiv Sena.

The Karnataka Shiv Sena which may contest 50 seats aims to show people that they practice real Hindutva and its politics is based on Hindutva, unlike the BJP which only employs Hindutva to promote its politics, according to Muthalik.

"I will tell people how I was back-stabbed by BJP in 2014. As the leader of the Shiv Sena, I will show them which is the real party of Hindutva," he asserts.

Muthalik's second stint in the Shiv Sena

In 2005 after leaving the Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray had asked Muthalik to establish Shiv Sena in Karnataka. He started the groundwork from Belgaum where he lived and which also has a sizeable Marathi population. However, before he could make some progress, the Kannada linguistic groups disrupted everything.

In Belgaum, linguistic riots have become common over the years. Maharashtra claims Belgaum over linguistic grounds. The desire of Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum to merge their territory with Maharashtra has periodically been hit by Kannada activists.

"Last time, Kannada linguistic groups made Shiva Sena working as a party in Karnataka impossible by disrupting meetings. However, it was all orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar, which wanted to stop a second Hindu party developing Karnataka," says Muthalik.

There are chances that Sangh Parivar may try to disrupt the party’s working by playing on the linguistic disputes. "I won’t panic and run away this time. I will face them and expose the real politics behind the tussle if they try to refuel it," he warned.

Though BJP and the Shiv Sena run a coalition government in Maharashtra, their relationship remains strained. In other places they often contest against each other, and the Sena which appeals to Hindu majoritarian impulse ends up eating BJP’s votes. In the Bihar Assembly election in 2015, the Sena cost the BJP at least two seats. Will it affect the Karnataka BJP? Only time will tell.