I will never join any political party, says actor Prakash Raj
Bengaluru, Jan 18: Actor Prakash Raj, who recently announced his decision to contest the coming Lok Sabha election, said Friday he would never join any political party, alleging the parties were not honest.
Raj said he had decided to contest the election as an Independent from the Bengaluru-Central constituency as "I cannot stay in any party for more than three months."
"I want to be the voice of the people," he said at a press conference here.
The critically-acclaimed actor, who has been active politically ever since the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh here on September 5, 2017, had announced his foray into politics more than a fortnight ago.
Asked whether the anger with which he has taken a plunge into politics would help him, he said, "There should be anger against dishonest people."
Known for his anti-BJP stand, Raj distanced himself from the present turmoil in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka over alleged attempts to dislodge it by the saffron party.
"At the time of (May assembly) elections I knew whom I am opposed to but I did not support anyone. I have no connection with their squabbling," Raj said.
Coming down on the BJP with regard to its alleged attempt to topple the coalition government, Raj said, "The BJP is a bunch of shameless people."
"They call themselves 'gau bhakts' (worshippers of cow) but on an important festival of worshipping cow (Makar Sankranti), they camped in a resort in Delhi instead of being at home," he said.
The BJP MLAs were camping at a luxury hotel in Gurugram, a move the party has defended saying it was to protect their lawmakers from poaching attempts by the ruling coalition in the state, Raj said.
Asked to comment on the Congress's view that his contesting election from the Bengaluru-Central constituency would weaken the secular forces, the actor said, "I welcome secular parties supporting me but if the Congress says that my contesting election as Independent will take away secular votes then let them support me."
To a question, Raj said he was not averse to joining the "Mahagathbandhan", the grand alliance of anti-BJP parties against "communal" forces.
He said he decided to contest the election from Bengaluru-Central because he grew up in the area where the electorate was secular in nature.
The Lok Sabha seat is presently held by the BJP's P C Mohan.
Raj earlier claimed that Bollywood filmmakers stopped offering him roles as he has been critical of the Narendra Modi-led government.
Raj is the latest celebrity to join politics from the South after Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
