The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was accused of hobnobbing with rowdy-sheeters in the run-up to the Assembly elections. However, ‘Silent’ Sunil and ‘Fighter’ Ravi, who brought much criticism the party’s way, have not got the ticket, prompting supporters of Mr. Sunil to protest in front of the BJP office in Bengaluru. However, another rowdy-sheeter Manikantha Rathod has been given the ticket to contest against Congress leader Priyank Kharge in Chittapur constituency.
Mr. Rathod is facing over 30 criminal cases reported in Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, and Bidar districts, involving serious crimes such as attempt to murder, illegal transportation of Anna Bhagya rice, narcotics smuggling, being in illegal possession of firearms, and criminal intimidation.
He was arrested on November 13 last year for threatening Mr. Kharge with murder, and later, released on bail. In a media conference then, he had openly expressed his readiness to shoot down Mr. Kharge. Taking into account the criminal cases being booked against Mr. Rathod, Police Commissioner Y.S. Ravikumar issued an order banishing him from Kalaburagi for a year in September last. However, Mr. Rathod has secured a stay order against this from court.
IMA scan accused
Meanwhile, former KAS officer L.C. Nagaraj, accused in the ₹4,000-crore IMA Ponzi scheme scam, has made it to the BJP list from Madhugiri against incumbent MLA M.V. Veerabhadraiah and Congress leader K. Rajanna. Mr. Nagaraj was one of the first officers to be arrested in the scam and has been chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
It can be recalled that BJP had led the charge against Congress and JD(S) over the scam. R. Roshan Baig, one of the other accused in the case resigned as an MLA in 2019 along with 16 others, as part of ‘Operation Lotus’ that brought down the JD(S)–Congress coalition government, and was reportedly ready to defect to the BJP. However, the BJP high command reportedly blocked his entry into the party over allegations of corruption.
A senior BJP functionary said all parties were forced to take certain decisions solely based on the criteria of winnability. “For instance, the party had fought against Mr. Baig tooth and nail and blocked his entry. But we had also been fighting against Munirathna hard. But he is now our Minister,” the functionary said.
