‘No connection with Ragini Dwivedi’, BJP says after arrest of actor who campaigned for party

Ragini Dwivedi, who was arrested by the Karnataka Police for her alleged involvement in a drug racket, had campaigned for BJP during 2019 December bypolls.

Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi | Twitter | @raginidwivedi24

Bengaluru: Two days after Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi was arrested by the Central Crime Branch for her alleged involvement in a major drug racket, the Karnataka BJP has distanced itself from the actor who has previously campaigned for the party.

During the December 2019 bypolls, Dwivedi had participated in door-to-door campaigns for BJP MLA Narayan Gowda from K.R. Pete constituency. Gowda is currently the state minister for Horticulture, Municipal Administration and Sericulture.

Dwivedi is also the brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission for the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation.

Senior BJP leader C.T. Ravi, however, said the party has no links with the actor.

“She is neither a party karyakarta nor has she been given any responsibility in the party. The BJP has no connection with her,” Ravi told ThePrint.

Dwivedi wished to join BJP in 2019

In 2019, in a series of media interviews, Dwivedi had expressed her desire to join the BJP, but the plan did not materialise and she campaigned for Gowda, instead.

The Kannada actor’s photographs and videos with Vijayendra Yeddyurappa, BJP Karnataka’s vice-president and Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s son, have also gone viral on social media.

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— Bhushan (@bhushannag) September 4, 2020

However, a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint that several stars have campaigned for the party over the years, and the party does not look into their personal lives.

“Why should the party delve into their personal lives or activities? How does one know what they do during their private time? She is a popular artiste like many others, and she participated in one of our campaigns,” the leader said.

“There are some actors who participate in campaigns to add to the glamour quotient because people like seeing actors, while there are others who can also be paid to come. We do not know how Ragini was involved in the campaigns in December,” another BJP leader told ThePrint, on the condition of anonymity.

Dwivedi has acted in over 30 films

Dwivedi, a former Miss India runner-up, has worked with several big names in the South Indian film industries in the last 11 years.

She began her career as a model and walked the ramp for leading fashion designers such as Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Rohit Bal and Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Dwivedi made her film debut in 2009 with the Kannada film ‘Veera Madakari’ with popular film star Sudeep. She went on to star in several popular Kannada films like Kempe Gowda (2011) and Ragini IPS (2014).

She also starred in Malayalam films with top actors such as Mohanlal in Kandahar (2010) and Mammooty in Face to Face (2012), and worked in over 30 films including Tamil and Telugu movies.

The CCB registered an FIR against the actor and 12 others, including Aditya Alva, Saturday. Alva is the brother-in-law of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and son of late Jeevaraj Alva, a former Karnataka minister.

On 21 August, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had busted a major drug racket and arrested three men who were allegedly supplying illegal drugs to singers, actors and other prominent personalities from the film industry, which is also known as ‘Sandalwood’.

The police then began carrying out searches at the residence of all those who were named by the three accused. They also searched Dwivedi’s house Friday, just a few hours prior to her arrest.