Pulakeshi Nagar: Cong edges BSP as DJ Halli ghost looms

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Pulakeshi Nagar might see a tough contest between Congress'  AC Srinivas and BSP’s Akhanda Srinivas Murthy as the events leading up to the DJ Halli riots of 2020 figure prominently in the minds of local voters. Murthy maintains that he is a “secular” politician who has no enmity towards minorities and that living in Kavalabysandra in the constituency gave him an edge.

“I’m of a ‘secular’ mind. We Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Marwaris live like brothers and sisters. Our constituency isn’t like that. Someone made a mistake but our house was burnt. We registered a complaint against four people and no one else. I’ve said the guilty party should be taught a lesson,” he said. Akhanda boasted of installing borewells and getting people potable water from Kaveri and other infrastructure.

Former Congress MLA from Pulakeshi Nagar B Prasanna that the local angle was overplayed by Murthy, backing AC Srinivas. “I too was based in Sahakara Nagar (off Mysore Road) and I managed this constituency well for multiple terms. Moreover AC Srinivas is an old associate of CK Jaffer Sharief (former Union minister) who lived near Hanies Road (in the segment) and knows the locality well” he said.

Srinivas had contested from Mahadevapura against BJP’s Aravind Limbavali in the 2018 polls and lost. Since then he was working in Devanahalli constituency until he was displaced by Kolar Congress bigwig KH Muniyappa who was fielded from the seat. All three seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Meanwhile, many local Muslims said they had lost faith in Akhanda due to the events of 2020 and favoured AC Srinivas. Mubarak Pasha, who lives in Kushal Nagar in the constituency, said that ‘Modi Road’, a three km stretch had a street so poor and narrow that it was inaccessible to ambulances