In Chittapur, rival candidates have contrasting backgrounds

Aparna Bose

Chittapur: In Karnataka's Chittapur, considered a stronghold of Congress' Priyank Kharge, the candidates of BJP and the JD (S) have contrasting backgrounds.

While the BJP candidate, 29 year-old Manikanta Rathod has multiple criminal cases against him, JD(S) candidate Subhash Chandra Rathod was a Principal civil judge and a local court judge, who gave up his post to contest from the constituency.

Chittapur is located in Kalaburagi district. Kharge, who is seeking a third consecutive term and Manikanta and the JD(S)' Rathod are vying for Chittapur for the May 10 Assembly polls. Manikanta contends cases against him are fake while Kharge questioned the rationale behind BJP fielding him.

"Cases against me are fake and politically motivated. People should vote for me because PM Narendra Modi brought good schemes like Ujjwala Yojana and Awas Yojana. We have several beneficiaries here and beneficiaries are always considered to be fixed vote bank," Manikanta Rathod told PTI. He has over 30 criminal cases against his name in five districts including Kalaburagi and Yadgir. He was also arrested in 2022 after he threatened to shoot Priyank Kharge.

Speaking about his opponent in the constituency, Rathod alleged Kharge remains "missing" from the constituency and that, he doesn't understand the problems of the common man in Chittapur. "AICC president's (Mallikarjun Kharge) son who is the incumbent MLA here, doesn't stay in the constituency and doesn't understand the problems of people here. He doesn't hold public meetings or interact with the common man," he said.