I will not defend MLA, who abuses Dalits, just because he is in my party: BJP MP

“I will not defend any person who abuses Dalits, even if he belongs to my party. I will not defend MLA Munirathna just because is a BJP member,” Ramesh Jigajinagi, MP and BJP leader, said in Vijayapura on September 16. Why BJP MLA was arrested BJP MLA Munirathna was arrested on September 15 in connection with allegedly threatening a civil contractor, demanding a bribe, and using casteist slurs. In the audio clip, the man purported to be MLA Munirathna is heard hurling casteist abuses against a Scheduled Caste community and danding a bribe, threatening the contractor. The voice in the audio clip will be matched with voice samples collected from MLA Munirathna.