Two “restricted-entry” candidates Vinay Kulkarni and G Janardhana Reddy presented a picture of a peculiar case in the Karnataka Assembly elections to be held on May 10.
While Congress candidate Kulkarni could not go to Dharwad, the constituency he is contesting from, following a court-imposed ban, Reddy fielded his wife in Bellary town as he was barred from entering there.
His wife Shivleela filed the nomination on behalf of Kulkarni.
“Our supporters are supporting us with the firm belief that ‘Saheb’ will come here. In his absence, I am seeking the blessings of voters to consider me as ‘Saheb’,” she told reporters.
As videos and phone calls are the only means to reach out to his voters, Kulkarni said in a video message, “I will dedicate myself to you and my constituency. You are my strength, who supported me today.” ” Former minister Kulkarni was arrested in November 2020 and sent to judicial custody in connection with the murder of BJP leader and district panchayat member Yogeshgouda Goudar in June 2016.
He was granted bail by the Supreme Court on the condition that he would not be allowed to enter Dharwad, known as the cultural capital of Karnataka as it produces acclaimed litterateurs and music maestros, without the permission of the judicial court. Is.
Their request for entry was rejected by the jurisdictional special court in Bengaluru, following which they approached the high court where Justice K Natarajan dismissed their plea on Friday.
Kulkarni’s counsel had argued that he needed to be in the constituency to campaign.
The High Court said that the party which had given him the ticket to contest the election should have known that the court had prohibited him from entering Dharwad.
The case of former mining baron Janardhan Reddy of the famous ‘Reddy Brothers of Ballari’ is not much different than that of Kulkarni.
Reddy, a former BJP minister, has been barred by the apex court from entering Karnataka’s Ballari and Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur and YSR Cuddapah districts in connection with the illegal mining case.
Reddy broke away from the BJP and formed a new party, the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP). His brothers G Karunakara Reddy and G Somasekhara Reddy are with the BJP and are contesting from Ballari City and Harapanahalli on party tickets.
Since he is not allowed to enter Ballari, Reddy decided to contest from neighboring Gangavathi in Koppal district.
The KRPP leader has fielded his wife Lakshmi Aruna ji from the Ballari City constituency against his brother Somasekhara Reddy.
On the day of filing her nomination papers, Lakshmi Aruna was in tears as she was missing her husband, who could not accompany her.
He sought voters’ blessings to complete projects like Ring Road, airport, superspeciality hospital and drinking water, which Janardhan Reddy had started but “stopped midway.” Janardhana Reddy had said: “I am focusing only on those constituencies where I have scope to win the elections. My target is to win 20 to 28 seats. I am building the party at the booth level with the available strength ” ,
Barred entry, Reddy cannot campaign for his wife or any other candidate the party has fielded in Bellary district, which it considers its stronghold.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)