Pulikeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy of Congress resigns from Assembly before elections in Karnataka

He won the Pulikeshinagar seat in Bengaluru in 2018 with a margin of 81,626 votes

A file photo of R. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, MLA of Pulikeshinagar, in Bengaluru.

Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy from Pulikeshinagar constituency in Bengaluru has resigned from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He submitted his resignation to Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri at the latter’s home in Sirsi, Uttara Kannada days even as candidates are filing nominations for the elections scheduled on May 10.

The MLA won his first election on a JD(S) ticket in 2013. He switched to the Congress in 2018. He won the seat in 2018 with a margin of 81,626 votes. He secured 97,574 votes against 15,948 votes by JD(S) candidate B. Prasanna Kumar.

Mr Murthy told mediapersons that he has resigned from the Assembly, but not the Congress. He would decide his future course of action after discussions with his supporters.

Sources said former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had told Mr Murthy to wait for a day before taking any decision.

He was one of the victims during the violence in D.J. Halli and K.G. Halli in Bengaluru in 2020. His resignation comes in the wake of reports that the Congress is unlikely to give him the ticket.