MANGALURU: Hindutva leader Arunkumar Putthila meeting BJP’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh in New Delhi recently has led to speculation that the saffron party might offer him something big going into the 2024 general election.
Sources said Putthila and four others close to him met Santhosh on the latter’s invitation. Santhosh is said to have given a patient hearing to Putthila and promised to address all his concerns.
During the discussion, Putthila’s followers are said to have indicated to Santhosh their desire to see Putthila as the next Lok Sabha MP from Dakshina Kannada, in order to aggressively fight for the cause of Hindutva, which they feel has suffered a lot under the current BJP leadership.
They are also hopeful that the BJP will not afford to ignore him again as any setback to the party in the region may send out a bad message. A BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said that at this stage it is difficult to predict whether Putthila’s ‘pressure tactics’ will bear fruit.
“He is a Brahmin and if the party has to accommodate him, then it has to sacrifice any one of the three Brahmin sitting MPs in the state which is not an easy thing,” he said.