Munirathna won amid allegations of cash for votes, intimidation and gift giving.
Munirathna Naidu, Raja Rajeshwari Nagar’s BJP candidate, won the by-elections. He won by a whopping 57,936 vote margin. Faced with the political novice, Kusuma H, wife of the late IAS officer DK Ravi, the candidate for Congress had become a powerful candidate during the election campaign. Kusuma has managed to make inroads into the Munirathna stronghold, which has Congress hopeful of his chances of victory in the upcoming Assembly elections.
“This constituency needs to be developed. You have implicitly trusted me and voted for me. I promise not to break your trust. It is our government in power now. I will work for the development of this segment 24×7 and even beyond my ability to pay my gratitude to the voters. I can say one thing for the candidate for Congress. Please tell the truth. I have never said anything derogatory against her. I have never called her “munde” (a derogatory reference to a widow). Respect for women and today the voters have shown that they do not believe the lies, “Munirathna Naidu told the media after the victory.
ರಾಜರಾಜೇಶ್ವರಿನಗರ ವಿಧಾನಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಉಪಚುನಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜಯಗಳಿಸಿದ ನಮ್ಮ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಶ್ರೀ @MunirathnaMLA ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು.#RRNagarBypolls pic.twitter.com/2qzbf669Zq
– BJP Karnataka (@ BJP4Karnataka) November 10, 2020
The JD (S) sent Krishnamurthy V, whom the former CM HD Kumaraswamy had called a “loyal party worker”. The JD (S) never had a good presence in the segment. This time too, Krishnamurthy V received a negligible number of votes. Nikhil Kumraswamy and his father HD Kumaraswamy had campaigned for Krishnamurthy, who competed from the segment for the first time. His lack of popularity and JD (S) ‘s low presence in the segment also led to his defeat.
Farewell elections were held in RR Nagar after Munirathna, along with 16 other congressional legislators and JD (S), resigned from office and helped topple the coalition government in 2019. Farewell elections did not take place. were held at RR Nagar in December 2019 when the other 16 segments went to the polls because Munirathna was embroiled in litigation. The former constituency’s BJP candidate had moved to the Supreme Court alleging Munirathna’s electoral fraud in the 2018 Assembly elections. He received a clean note in early October, after which the BJP announced his candidacy from the segment.
The campaign at RR Nagar was also mired in controversy. The BJP candidate had distributed the “Munirathna decoders” to the voters. Continuous advertisements ran on television for those who had these set-top boxes.
Congress had accused Munirathna of distributing cash to voters and also giving gifts. The party had also complained to the EC, claiming that Munirathna’s expenses for the elections had exceeded the established limit. Munirathna Naidu, a film producer, entered politics and made RR Nagar his fiefdom with the help of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Once he had identified himself as a loyalist to Siddaramaiah. After he defected from Congress, both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar accused him of using intimidation tactics to win the elections. Accusations of cash for votes, gifts and intimidation were abundant, yet Munirathna managed to win the by-elections and retain her strength.
