BENGALURU: The ghost of the August 2020 Deverajeevanahalli (DJ Halli) riots has returned to haunt Congress MLA from Pulakeshinagar, Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, who in 2018 had won by 81,626 votes, the highest margin in the Assembly polls, against JDS’ B Prasanna Kumar.
Kumar returned to Congress in 2021 and is being pitted against Murthy, who is awaiting his name to be cleared by the Congress Election Committee (CEC). The pulakeshinagar seat represented by Murthy is yet to be decided by the CEC as minorities, who are still reeling under the 2020 riots, have reportedly expressed their concern about his candidature. Murthy was with JDS and had joined Congress in 2017 after former CM Siddaramaiah asked him to switch sides.
The posters of Kumar, who returned to Congress in February 2021, are seen along with Kharge and KPCC president DK Shivakumar in the congested Shampura, Tannery Road, DJ Halli, Kavalbyrasanda and on autorickshaws from East Bengaluru.
Both Murthy and Kumar told TNIE they are hopeful of getting the ticket after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Belagavi on March 20. Murthy told TNIE he is confident of getting a ticket from Pulakeshinagar. “I had secured 97,574 votes, the highest in the 2018 elections. I had won by 81,626 votes against Kumar, who got over 15,000 votes. He was the JDS candidate. The people of this constituency know me and the work that I have done. Barring some minority leaders, who are being instigated by others, most of the people are with me,” said Murthy.
He was upset that he didn’t receive enough support from Shivakumar after his house was torched by a mob in the 2020 riots. Meanwhile, Kumar too expressed his confidence and said he is “very hopeful” of getting the ticket from the Pulakeshinagar Assembly constituency. “I have been working in the constituency after the DJ Halli riots and know people’s pulse. They want a change.
The main issues of congested roads, poor drainage, garbage and water have remained unattended,” said Kumar. He added that he is a four-time Congress MLA, three times from Yelahanka and once from Pulakeshinagar between 2008-’13. Pulakeshinagar has a population of around 2,36,000 people, of which around 50 per cent are Muslims, around 20,000 Christians, and the rest are Hindus and others.