BENGALURU: A harmless blood donation camp in Bengaluru on Sunday put BJP in a fix as party MPs from the city, PC Mohan and Tejasvi Surya, found themselves on the dais with a dreaded underworld criminal, Silent Sunil, who is wanted in more than 30 offences.
Their participation set off a barrage of criticism from opposition parties and their own party members.
Former Chamrajpet BJP MLA Pramila Nesargi said, “The people of Chamarajpet have been insulted and they are pained to see this. I condemn it.”
Asked about some leaders defending the party, she said, “I condemn everyone from the party who ventures out to defend such action. If anyone is interested in the party’s wellbeing they should not defend this. I condemn the parliamentarians also who participated.”
PC Mohan said, “It was a blood donation camp. Tejasvi and I did not know that it was a function with a stage. But once we went on the dais, it was too late. We regret participating in this programme.’’Tejasvi Surya’s team too said they did not know the guest list and the MP went because it was mentioned that a record number of people were donating blood.
BJP leader NR Ramesh, who too attended the event, said, “I went because it was organised by the Rashtrotthana trust. They collected about 1,183 units of blood which was the second highest amount collected. I did not know about the participation of others like Silent Sunil.’’ Just as this issue was settling down, another underworld element Fighter Ravi participated in an event where IT-BT Minister CN Ashwath Narayan too was attending on Monday. The minister said, “Everyone should be given a chance. It is wrong to name everyone a rowdy sheeter and opportunities are available for criminals to correct themselves.’’
Congress tweeted, “The police are looking for Silent Sunil who is participating with the BJP leaders at a function on stage.’’ In another tweet, it said, “All the `wanted’ criminals are in demand in the BJP. BJP Karnataka is a `Rowdy House’ by keeping Rowdy Sheeters inside the party and getting them to join the party. They have maintained their Rowdy culture by getting a rowdy Fighter Ravi to join the party.”