Mangaluru (PTI): Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat, who has been denied a ticket by the BJP to contest in the Assembly elections, on Wednesday said he was deeply pained by the treatment meted out to him by the party.

“I am not sad over the party’s decision, but I am pained by the way the party has treated me,” Bhat told reporters at his residence in Udupi. He broke into tears while speaking to the media.

He said not even the district unit president of the party had called to inform him about the party’s decision and he came to know of it from television channels.

“Amit Shah had called and informed Jagadish Shettar about the changes. I do not expect Shah to call me, but at least the district president should have done it. If I have been denied ticket just due to my caste, I will not agree to it,” he said.

Bhat said it appeared that the BJP did not need people like him who “worked tirelessly”, as the party had grown everywhere. He said he had worked for the party even in the hardest of times and was thankful for the opportunities that he had been given.

Describing the party’s official candidate Yashpal Suvarna as “my boy”, Bhat said he had always supported Suvarna’s growth in the party.

Speaking about BJP’s treatment of himself, Bhat said he was so shocked that he could not take an immediate decision on his next course of action.

Hundreds of Bhat’s followers have gathered near his residence to learn about his next plans.