Kannada actor Sudeep Sanjeev, popularly known as Kichcha Sudeep on Wednesday clarified that he will not contest the Karnataka elections scheduled for May 10 but will only campaign for chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Sudeep added that his decision to campaign for the BJP leader was driven by his intention to support Bommai in his hour of need, just as he stood by him when he was struggling in the film industry.

“I’ve know Bommai since I was a kid and I address him as ‘Mama’. During my struggling days in the industry, only a few people stood by me, and Bommai is one of them. It is only my duty to stand by him now. I would like to extend my support to Bommai,” Sudeep said at a joint press conference with Bommai in state capital Bengaluru.

“I will stand by my friends. I’m here to render my support to Bommai sir. When I say I support him, I will go by what his needs are. But I cannot campaign for everybody,” Sudeep said, a message for Bommai’s party colleagues.

The announcement comes weeks after Sudeep said that he had offers to join from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but hadn’t picked a side.

In February, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar also met Sudeep at his residence in Bengaluru and sparked buzz about Suddeep’s political plunge.

Reiterating Sudeep’s stance, Bommai said that the actor agreed to campaign for him in the elections at his request. “He has not joined any political party, but is only showing his support to me. Since we have had a relationship for years and I’d spoken to him that I needed his support, he obliged.”

“He is very popular and it will help BJP… We will win with a clear margin. The public will support the double-engine government in the state,” Bommai said.

Meanwhile, Sudeep’s manager Jack Manju told the police that the actor received a death threat on Wednesday. According to police, Manju received a letter from an unknown person, threatening to release the actor’s private video on social media. The Puttenahalli police registered a first information report in this connection and are investigating the matter.