Nettaru murder case accused to contest state polls for SDPI from Puttur

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has fielded Shafi Bellare, an accused in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru murder case, from the Puttur constituency in the upcoming state assembly elections.

The SDPI released its second list of candidates on Wednesday for nine constituencies. Earlier in January, the SDPI released the list of candidates for ten assembly constituencies in the first list.

Bellare was the SDPI’s state general secretary when he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in November last year.

Meanwhile, Ameen Mohsin will contest from Madikeri, Syed Isahaq Hussain from Raichur and Yamunappa Gunadal from Terdal. Angadi Chandru and Athavullah Darakshi contest from Mudigere and Bijapura constituencies, respectively. Riyaz Farangipete will contest from Mangalore (Ullal), Raheem Patel from Gulbarga North, Shafi Bellare from Puttur and Dr Vijay M. Guntral from Hubballi East, the party said during a press conference.

SDPI national president M K Faizy said, “We have released the list of nine candidates in the second list, and the selection process for candidates in the rest of the constituencies has begun.”

“SDPI started its election campaign as a party fighting against fascist forces and advocating for social justice. We campaign equally against BJP, Congress and JD(S). On one side, the BJP is committing atrocities against minorities and oppressed communities, and Congress and JD(S) are silent. So, our fight will be equal against all parties,” Faizy said.

Responding to a question about Bellare being given a ticket, Faizy said that the BJP government arrested Bellare on false charges. “He was targeted because of political grudges. He was given the ticket at the insistence of the people of that constituency and our party workers. I’m confident he will be acquitted.”

SDPI state president Abdul Majeed alleged that the BJP government in Karnataka is “mired in corruption”.

“There is no scam that this government has not been involved in. A contractor had written a letter claiming that Minister Eshwarappa had demanded a bribe, and that was the reason for his death,” Majeed said.

“Along with corruption, this government’s communal politics is haunting the state like no other. Despite this, the Opposition parties, especially the Congress, which survives on the votes of the minority community, does not respond to the problems and challenges of the Muslims,” Majeed said.

Stressing that Congress is a double standard party, Majeed said the SDPI would campaign against it with the same intensity as they campaigned against the BJP. “Chief minister Bommai, who visited the house of Praveen Nettaru, did not visit the families of Masood and Fazil, who were also murdered. Similarly, when Kanhaiya Lal was killed in Rajasthan, Congress Chief Minister Gehlot, who had visited Kanhaiya Lal’s house and consoled his family, did not even look at the house of two Muslims who were killed by terrorists.”

HT couldn’t elicit a response from the BJP and Congress.

During the 2013 Karnataka assembly election, SDPI got a vote share of 3.2% in the few seats it contested, and by the 2018 election, the vote share increased to 10.5% in the three assembly seats it contested.

SDPI also won six ward seats in Karnataka’s urban local body elections in December 2021, its first win in any elections in Karnataka. At present, the SDPI has 300 public representatives in various local bodies and has been trying to make inroads into several assembly segments.