On April 16, Sunday, Karnataka Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy tendered his resignation as the MLA from the Pulakeshinagar constituency. The decision came after Murthy was denied a ticket by the party for the upcoming assembly polls. Incidentally, he is the same Congress MLA whose house was burnt down by rabid Islamists during last year’s Bengaluru riots.
According to reports, the Congress MLA went to Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district and submitted his resignation to Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Monday (April 17).
After handing over his resignation Murthy told the media that he was disappointed that his name did not appear in the candidate lists.
“I am a legislator who has secured the highest number of votes. I was very disappointed when my name did not appear in any of the three lists. My constituency members and I were hurt, so I decided to resign.” Srinivas Murthy said.
Srinivas Murthy further stated that he has not yet made up his mind on his next move. He hinted that he might run as an independent in the elections.
When asked if any of the party member’s actions has hurt him, Murthy said, “If the party hasn’t announced my name in any of the lists, it’s implied who hurt me. My constituency people were hurt, and concerned daily about whether I would get the ticket or not.”
“All Hindus, Muslims and Christians are united in my constituency. This is also where I grew up and we are all united. I have faced injustice by attention being paid to the words of someone else. I want to avoid this injustice. So I am resigning as the MLA, not from the party itself. That’s why I approached the Speaker,” he added.
Islamists had burnt down the house of Karnataka Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy
It may be recalled that last year during the horrifying Bengaluru riots, a huge mob of Muslims rampaged on the streets and attacked the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations, torched police vehicles and numerous other vehicles and caused immense damage to public property. In the incident, Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s house was also burnt down.
Reminiscing the horrifying incident, the Congress MLA said that a mob of 3000-4000 Muslim rioters arrived at his house, pelted stones, poured petrol, burnt tires and set the house on fire. “They attacked with swords, hatchets, sticks and also threw petrol bombs at my residence”, he had recalled.
The MLA had also blamed ‘outsiders’ for instigating the riots and urged the local residents to help him nab the culprits. He requested that the case be handed over to the CBI, or CID for a thorough investigation.