Muthalik said he has conducted surveys in around eight assembly constituencies and will finalise the segment in which he would be contesting soon.
Rama Sene chief detained in Mangaluru on Thursday in connection with the murder of progressive Kannada scholar and researcher Prof M M Kalburgi.
Right wing outfit Sri Rama Sene, which was in the eye of a storm after its activists attacked women at a pub in Mangalore in 2008, said on Monday that it would not allow Valentine's Day celebrations in Karnataka.
He asked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Home Minister Araga Jnanendra to show the 'guts,' shown by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath there.
The Congress on Wednesday asked the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his secular credentials by banning the right wing Sri Rama Sene.
After lying low for some months, right wing group Sri Rama Sene has indulged in moral policing again, this time by objecting to a Hindu girl visiting the house of her college mate from another community in Mangalore.
There were reports of such incidents at temples in various places including Bengaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Yadgir, Mandya and Kolar among other places.
The bail was granted by the Judicial Magistrate First Court. Earlier, the public prosecutor opposed the bail saying Udayagiri suburbs in Mysore had returned to normalcy and any inflammatory speeches by leaders like Muthalik would disturb the peace.
Two persons have been arrested and three taken into custody for questioning in connection with the attack against Sri Rama Sene founder Pramod Muthalik in Bengaluru while protesting over his outfit's agitation against celebrating Valentines Day.
Efforts to persuade the 46-year-old Muthalik, who stirred a controversy in January with an attack on pub goers in Mangalore by his activists, to eat some food have failed since he started his "fast" on Sunday night, Jail Superintendent P Mallesh told PTI, adding a doctor has been deputed to monitor Muthalik's health.
In the wake of threats by some outfits to organise protests on Valentine's Day, the Centre on Thursday asked the Karnataka government to take "preventive and punitive" action to ensure law and order.
A fact-finding committee, comprising of human rights activists formed to look into the recent violence in Mangalore, has stated that the attacks were carried out by the Bajrang Dal and the Sri Rama Sene (a local Hindu group). The team said the 'planned attacks' were aimed at causing hurt and resentment among Christians. It was also used as a pretext by the police to let lose a savage assault on the community and its sacred institutions, the report said.
Amidst protests by some Hindu groups in parts of Karnataka, American evangelist Benny Hinn has cancelled his visit to Bangalore on Wednesday.
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated in the Karnataka assembly elections, the party retained its traditional stronghold in the coastal region by securing victories in 11 of the 13 constituencies in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
The economic muscle in the Mangalore region is generally sympathetic to the BJP, says Aditi Phadnis.
'We don't want hardcores like Pramod Muthalik in Goa. We vehemently oppose people who share Muthalik's tendencies. We don't need cultural watchdogs in Goa.' BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh lashes out at Goa's anti-bikini minister Sudin Dhavalikar in this exclusive interview to Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
It will be tough for the Congress leader to return to the Upper House from either Telangana or Andhra, where the party's presence has dwindled. But neither House will forget her.
Since 2004 the Congress has hung onto power in a situation in which it was on track to be out of power. In each case, it effectively gamed the system through Constitutional coups, argues columnist Rajeev Srinivasan.
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