Sri Ram Sene won't support BJP

Sri Ram Sene, which shot into limelight after its members attacked women in a Mangalore pub, on Saturday ruled out the possibility of supporting any political party in the forthcoming elections, including the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"They (BJP) are using Hindutva only to come to power," Sene founder Pramod Muthalik told reporters in Chennai.

Asked whether the BJP government was backing the outfit in Karnataka, he said while his entry into Mangalore was banned, some of his supporters were jailed.

 The Sene activists had stormed a pub in Mangalore in January and attacked women in an act of 'moral policing' against pub culture, triggering nationwide condemnation. They had also threatened to disrupt Valentine Day's celebrations.

Referring to the attack, he said, "Our intentions were good and was for a cause, but the method adopted was wrong."

In a sequel to the pub attack, he said the Sene would target liquor manufacturing units in the future. He added that his outfit would strive to create awareness among Hindu voters on a 12-point agenda which included demands for hanging of Parliament attack case mastermind Afzal Guru and implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.