Former BJP minister tries to kill self after woman reveals ‘affair’

“We married secretly at his house, but he is avoiding me and has spoiled my life,’’ alleged the woman, who is a widow and mother of two. She also claimed that Ramadas did not want to marry her on the ground that he was an RSS worker.

While she was talking to the media, she received a phone call that she said was from Ramadas. She then put the call on speaker mode. The caller, purportedly Ramadas, was heard pleading with her against going to the media about their affair. He threatened to commit suicide if she did so.

Prema Kumari alleged that Ramadas had befriended her when he was a minister and she had approached him for a transfer from Tumkur to Mysore.

As local news channels aired the report, Ramadas is reported to have booked himself into a guest house in the evening and attempted suicide by hanging. He was reportedly found in time by his personal staff, who rushed him to hospital.

BJP leaders who visited him on Wednesday said he was recovering. Police have not registered a case of attempted suicide and the hospital staff did not confirm a suicide attempt.

Meanwhile, Ramadas’s supporters protested against the woman in Mysore on Wednesday, accusing her of levelling baseless allegations. One of his supporters is alleged to have committed suicide.