People of Mysuru woke up on Monday to the shocking news of attack on Congress MLA and former Minister Tanveer Sait at a wedding reception late on Sunday.
The motive behind the attack is not clear and there are speculations hinting at a larger conspiracy. Mr.Sait was attacked by Farhan Pasha who used to earn his living as a handicraft artisan. The MLA, who received grievous injuries, was rushed to Columbia Asia Hospital where he underwent a surgery and is in the ICU.
Farhan Pasha, who is under police custody and being interrogated, was reportedly dismayed that his appeals for a job went unheeded and hence attacked Mr. Sait. However, K.T.Balakrishna, Commissioner of Police, said invesitgators will not jump to any conclusion regarding the motive and are probing all possible angles.
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As the assailant was an artisan, the police are also trying to trace how Farhan procured the machete and whether there were others involved in fabricating it knowingly or unknowingly.
Meanwhile, political parties have begun sensing conspiracies and are airing their views in public. District Congress president Vijaykumar said the attack on a “progressive politician” like Mr. Tanveer Sait comes close on the heels of similar attack on progressive thinkers.
Pratap Simha, MP, condemned the attack and said such incidents are recurring in Narasimharaja constituency (which Mr.Sait represents) and drew attention to the murder of RSS worker Raju a few years ago and called for greater vigil in the area.
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There was a steady stream of political leaders to the hospital throughout the day to inquire about the health of Mr. Sait and district in-charge Minister V. Somanna discussed the issue with the officials.
Former Minister C.M. Ibrahim who visited the hospital said Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai should immediately rush to the city to take stock of the situation and appealed to the government to take the issue seriously.
Former Minister H.C. Mahadevappa said such an incident had never occurred in Mysuru wherein a sitting MLA had been attacked and called for eschewing all speculations on the motive behind it. He said it would be imprudent to attribute political motives or rivalry when the investigations have just begun.
Police have stepped up security at the hospital and have deployed additional forces in sensitive areas of the city to prevent any untoward incident.