Karnataka election 2018: Opponents hope it’ll be ‘son’set time for Haris

BENGALURU: Nestling between swanky malls, elegant Tender-SURE roads, tech parks and military campuses and hidden from plain sight are 20-odd slums in Shantinagar assembly constituency. The electorate too is a melting pot: techies, senior citizens, second and third generation Tamil migrants employed in unorganized sector, business owners and private sector employees.

A large chunk of the constituency’s 2,18,735-strong electorate is made of Adi Dravidans (80,000), SC/STs (1,40,000), including Tamilspeaking Adi Dravidans (80,000), converted Christians (30,000) and Muslims (28,000) who are said to be the deciding factor in every poll.
Shantinagar’s incumbent MLA N A Haris was in the eye of the storm earlier this year after his son Mohammed Nalapad Haris was involved in an attempt-to-murder case. Haris junior is still cooling his heels in jail. Many termed Haris’ career over.
According to BJP and its candidate Vasudev Murthy, who had lost in 2013 on a JD(S) ticket, the biggest issue on hand will be hooliganism by the MLA’s son. Navika, a resident of Old Airport Road, seemed to concur with the BJP and described the incident to be the “last nail in Congress coffin” in the segment.
However, there is also another section of voters which supports Haris and considers the late night pub brawl involving his son as an “unfortunate incident” that should’t happen to any parent. “I think his son’s deeds should be seen separately from his performance as an MLA,” said Aruna Newton from Indiranagar.
While the middle-class and elite voters remain divided, the poorer sections remain bastions of Congress. “We always support Congress. Everyone I know votes for Haris,” says Sunitha V, a domestic help.
At the other end, the lack of development is the main plank of Haris’ opponents, including Murthy, Renuka Viswanathan of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Sridhar Reddy from JD(S). They cite the example of three community halls that are under renovation over the last 10 years. They were available at nominal rent for the poorer sections of the constituency.
Renuka Prasad, president of Shantinagar RWA, said they stopped relying on elected representatives long time ago. “While we do get to see Haris in our ward, there is only lip sympathy,” he said.
Haris believes his victory is certain. “I have surrendered my son to the authorities and allowed law to take its course. I am not the accused. What more can I do? People will not forget my 10 years of service. Nobody else is competent enough to take up the tasks in this constituency,” he said.