Karnataka not new to me, I知 no outsider: Hema Malini
The BJP on Tuesday issued a whip to its MLAs to vote for party candidate Hema Malini in the March 3 Rajya Sabha polls.
At the BJP legislature party meeting during the day legislators were directed to cast their first preferential vote for Hema Malini. The party candidate was also present at the meeting.
The actor is pitted against litterateur K Marulasiddappa, who is contesting as an independent candidate with the support of the Congress and the JD(S).
The Congress on Tuesday also issued whip to its legislators directing them to vote for Marulasiddappa. The JD(S) too will issue whip to its legislators directing them to vote against Hema Malini on Thursday.
With a single seat going to polls, as many as 104 votes need to be polled for the winning candidate. The ruling BJP has 107 members in the truncated 206 member Assembly against the combined opposition strength of 98. Speaking to the reporters after the meeting, Hema Malini said she knew most of the party MLAs as she had campaigned for them during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. “Karnataka is not a new place for me.
I do not understand why some people are treating me as an outsider. As an artiste, I belong to everybody,” she said.
However, she did not react to the comment made against her by Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad. “I do not want to speak anything,” she said.
Karnad and a few other litterateurs had said Hema Malini was a good actress but she had “failed” to respond to the aspirations of the people when she was the Rajya Sabha member for six years. Earlier, addressing the legislators, the “glamour girl” said she was aware of the rich culture of Karnataka and would strive for the welfare of the people and development of the State.
