Udupi’s Anupama launches political party in Ballari; vows liquor-free Karnataka

Ballari, Nov 1: Former police officer Anupama Shenoy, who could not get expected support from the BJP even after making a series of allegations against the Congress government of Karnataka, on Wednesday launched her own political party at Kudligi in Ballari district. 

Formally launching Bharatiya Jana Shakthi Congress (BJSC), Anupama said that the new party intends to make the Karnataka a liquor-free state in stages. She said that her party would endorse Mahatma Gandhiji's concept of Gram Swarajya. 

A few weeks ago, Anupama had claimed that her new party would contest all 224 seats in 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls. A couple of days ago, she stated that her party would field candidates in 80 seats across Karnataka. However, on the day of party launch, she said that the details of how many seats her party would contest and from which districts will be decided at a later date.

Anupama, who hails from Udupi district, was serving as the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kudligi sub-division when she quit the police department. She had accused the senior officers of harassing her and not forcing her to withdraw resignation.

Anupama is one of the three children of Radhakrishna (63), who runs a canteen at Uchila village in Udupi district. Her elder brother Aravind is an electronics engineer in Malaysia and the other Achutha is a field engineer. After BSc, Anupama completed Masters in Social Work before clearing the KAS examination.