Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, who was elected from the Pulikeshinagar constituency in 2018 with a record margin, has resigned from his position after the Congress party did not include his name in their list of candidates for the upcoming elections.
“I have suffered enough and I am fed up with this. I have not been given a ticket and three lists of the Congress party are out,” said the MLA. He subsequently met with speaker Vishweshwar Hegade Kageri and submitted his resignation.
Credits – The News Minute
Despite not being given a ticket by the Congress party, Srinivas Murthy has filed his nomination as an independent candidate from the same seat. The KPCC Working President in-charge, Ramalinga Reddy, said that they are confident of retaining the seat even though minorities in Pulikeshinagar are upset with the MLA, especially after the DJ Halli-KG Halli violence that resulted in the arrest of around 400 Muslims.
The violence in 2020 was sparked by a Facebook post by a family member of Srinivas Murthy, which led to protests and the burning of his house and a local police station. As a result of the riots, over 400 Muslims were arrested.
Credits – Vartha Bharathi
According to political consultancy Chanakyya’s analysis ahead of the 2018 polls, over 1.2 lakh Muslims, accounting for 53.5% of the constituency’s more than 2.4 lakh total voters, were part of the Pulikeshinagar constituency.
Srinivas Murthy has already won the seat twice, once from the JD(S) and once from the Indian National Congress Party. In the 2018 elections, he contested on a Congress party ticket and won with a massive margin of 81,626 votes (77.2%).
