It’s a tough battle between BJP’s Muniratna and Congress candidate Kusuma

Bengaluru: Rajarajeshwari Nagar, also known as RR Nagar, one of the largest constituencies in Bengaluru, will witness a poll battle between current and former Congress leaders this time. With around 400,000 voters and 14 wards, this constituency is one of the most important constituencies in the capital.

This is an important constituency in the upcoming assembly elections and Munirathna, the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate who has won the constituency three times, is confident of being re-elected. Similarly, Kusuma H of Congress, who has lost against Munirathna in previous election, is his opponent this time too, and there is fierce competition.

In RR Nagar, JDS has fielded Narayanaswamy, while Anantha Subhashchandra is contesting from AAP. Even though there are other candidates, the only competition here is between Muniratna and Kusuma. Munirathna was the Minister of Horticulture in the Basavaraja Bommai-led BJP government and is also known as a film producer.

He was elected from the Congress party in 2013 and 2018, but he joined the BJP in 2019. In 2018, Muniratna was accused of voter ID card irregularities. The Election Commission raided the apartment and seized 9,000 voter ID cards of the people of the constituency. Muniratna was then in the Congress and the BJP had accused him of involvement in election irregularities.

However, Munirathna was one of the 17 JDS and Congress MLAs who enabled Operation Kamala to help the BJP form the government in 2019. The BJP, which had been accusing him of rigging the election for so long, became silent after that. In the by-elections held in 2020, Muniratna had registered a victory against Kusuma by a huge margin of 58,000 votes on a BJP ticket. He broke his previous record of winning the 2018 assembly elections by a margin of 28,000 votes.

However, this time there are many allegations against Muniratna in the constituency. He has also faced many controversies including demanding bribes from contractors, distributing sarees to voters in violation of the model code of conduct. In April this year, a case was registered against Muniratna for making hate speech against Christians.

Kusuma Hanumantarayappa, who is determined to win this time against the defeat in the last by-election against Muniratna, is again contesting on the Congress ticket. After losing the by-election against Muniratna in 2020, she has been campaigning furiously in the constituency ever since.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Kusuma is an assistant professor at Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bangalore. Late IAS officer DK Ravi’s wife Kusuma and her father Hanumantarayappa were in the JD(S) before joining the Congress in 2020. Although RR Nagar is one of the fastest growing areas of Bangalore, narrow roads and congested junctions continue to affect residents. The Outer Ring Road passing through this area is used by thousands of commuters. Last year, Bengaluru was brought to a standstill due to heavy rains and there were floods in the constituency. Residents complained that the BBMP officials were responding very late to their calls.

In March this year, local residents and activists protested after reports that the government was helping a real estate project by building a road through the Hoskerehalli lake in Rajarajeshwarinagar. However, BBMP officials and Muniratna had stated that they are not building a permanent road inside the lake.

Currently, Kusuma is campaigning vigorously in the constituency for three years. It is said that this could be fatal for Muniratna who is facing many charges. RR Nagar, which has 14 wards, will witness a fierce battle between Muniratna and Kusuma in the upcoming

assembly elections.