'I am shocked and hurt': Prakash Raj after Kichcha Sudeep announces support to BJP

Hours after Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep backed the BJP, actor Prakash Raj on Wednesday said he was 'shocked and hurt' by the announcement. "I am shocked and hurt by Kichcha Sudeep's statement," Raj, who is a vocal critic of the saffron party, said.    

Earlier today, Sudeep announced his support for Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in Bengaluru. He said he will campaign for the party, but won't contest the upcoming assembly polls. During the press conference, the actor also said he totally respected certain decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I totally respect certain decisions Mr Modi has taken, but that has got nothing to do with me sitting here today," Sudeep said while responding to a question on whether he supported BJP's ideology.

Ahead of Sudeep's statement, a news report appeared saying the actor was likely to join the BJP. Sharing that report, Raj said: "I strongly believe this is a Fake news spread by the desperate, losing BJP in Karnataka. @KicchaSudeep is far more sensible Citizen to fall prey."

Prakash Raj has criticised the BJP's policies and central leaders including Prime Minister Modi on various occasions and has often spoken out against the party's ideology. Last year when Home Minister Amit Shah said people from different states should speak in Hindi, the actor said the Centre was imposing Hindi.  

"Don't try to break Homes Mr Home Minister … We DARE YOU #stopHindiImposition we love our diversity..we love our Mother tongue… We love our Identities...," he wrote on Twitter.

In 2019, Raj took a plunge into politics and contested the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate from Bangalore Central. He lost the polls and could manage to get only 28,906 votes with 2.41 per cent vote share. By cornering over 50 per cent votes, BJP's PC Mohan defeated Congress leader Rizwan Arshad.

Karnataka will go to polls in a single phase on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

After getting support from Sudeep, the Karnataka CM said the actor is very popular and his support will give power to the BJP. "We will win with a clear margin. The public will support the double-engine government in the state," Bommai said.