Latest news with #Munirathna
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bengaluru Metro: BJP's Munirathna asks why Bettahalasuru station was dropped, DK Shivakumar slams MLA's ‘selfish motive'
BJP MLA Munirathna and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar locked horns in the state Assembly Tuesday over the alleged dropping of Bettahalasuru station which is part of Phase 2B of the Bengaluru Metro project. Phase 2B, also known as the Blue line, is a key link to Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport. Shivakumar, in his response to Munirathna during Question Hour in the House, stated that the Bettahalasuru station was dropped after real estate major Embassy Group failed to fund its construction as per an earlier agreement. The station was originally included in the 2018 DPR which was forwarded to the Centre. The state also acquired land for the project after the Embassy Group committed to funding the station's construction at a cost of Rs 120 crore. However, according to Shivakumar, the group has paid only Rs 1 crore so far. Raising the issue in the Assembly, MLA Munirathna questioned how a private entity's funding failure could stall a public infrastructure project. 'This station serves the public, not private interests. Land acquisition and DPR approval are complete. The government must act to protect public interest,' he said, adding that local MLA Krishna Byre Gowda had also written to Shivakumar underlining the station's importance. 'MLA Munirathna has 70-80 acres of land in the area' Shivakumar, however, hit back stating that Munirathna owned 70-80 acres of land around the station, which is why he insisted on developing it. 'As per norms, it is allowed to name the station after a company if they sponsor the construction with CSR funds. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi praised the model and Opposition leader (R) Ashoka was also there. Munirathna has about 70-80 acres of land there and hence he needs a Metro station,' the deputy chief minister said. To which Munirathna quipped, 'If DCM D K Shivakumar makes a call to Embassy builders, they will make the payment in 24 hours. Builders in Bengaluru only listen to him.' Replying to him, Shivakumar stated, 'Self-interest is natural. The Embassy (Group) has about 250 acres and they were willing to pay Rs 120 crore of the total cost of Rs 140 crore to brand the Metro station there. They have given only Rs 1 crore till now. We will build the station and name it after Munirathna if he pays for it.' The controversy comes even as Embassy Group, through Vikas Telecom Pvt Ltd, which is part of Embassy Office Parks REIT, is funding the Rs 100-crore construction of the Kadubeesanahalli station on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) corridor under Phase 2A of the Metro project. The station, to be named 'Embassy Tech Village Kadubeesanahalli Metro Station,' is part of a 17-km stretch from Central Silk Board to KR Puram with 16 stations.
News18
6 days ago
- Politics
- News18
‘Pay Up To Name It': Karnataka Dy CM Backs Naming Bettadalasuru Metro Station After MLA Munirathna
Last Updated: Karnataka Deputy CM says sponsorship can seal the deal for station naming rights. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the government was ready to name Bettadalasuru metro station after MLA Munirathna if he thinks of sponsoring the station. Replying to a question raised by BJP MLA Munirathna, in the Question Hour of the Legislative Assembly, Deputy CM said, 'As per the norms, it is allowed to name the station after a company if they sponsor the construction with CSR funds. Prime Minister Modi praised the model, and Opposition leader Ashok was also there. Munirathna has about 70-80 acres of land there, and hence he needs a metro station." Intervening, MLA Munirathna said, 'If DCM DK Shivakumar makes a call to Embassy builders, they will make the payment in 24 hours. Builders in Bengaluru only listen to him." Replying to him, Shivakumar said, 'Self-interest is natural. The Embassy has about 250 acres, and they were willing to pay Rs 120 of the total cost of Rs 140 crores to brand the metro station there. They have given only Rs 1 crore till now. We will build the station and name it after Munirathna if he pays for it." Earlier on August 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Yellow line from RV Road (Ragigudda) to Bommasandra of the Bangalore Metro on Sunday. PM Modi was accompanied by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar. The Prime Minister was seen buying a ticket through QR code-enabled ticket vending machines at the Ragigudda metro station before flagging off the Yellow Line of the Namma Metro. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Out of ₹120 crore agreed, Embassy Group paid only ₹1 crore for metro station: Shivakumar
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly that the Embassy Group paid only ₹1 crore against the agreed ₹120 crore for the construction of a metro station of Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. at Bettadahalasur in the city under Phase 2A and 2B. Replying to a question by Munirathna (BJP) during Question Hour, Mr. Shivakumar said: 'The Embassy Group has about 250 acres near the proposed metro station and they were willing to pay ₹120 crore of the total cost of ₹140 crore to construct the station and name it after the company. They have given only ₹1 crore till now.' He added, in jest, 'We will build the station and name it after Mr. Munirathna if he pays for it.' From CSR funds Mr. Shivakumar said that as per norms, a station can be named after a company if it sponsors the construction with CSR funds. 'Mr. Munirathna has about 70 to 80 acres of land there and hence he needs a metro station,' Mr. Shivakumar said. Mr. Munirathna countered and said: 'If Mr. Shivakumar makes a call to the Embassy Group, they will make the payment in 24 hours. Builders in Bengaluru only listen to him.' Mr. Shivakumar further said that Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has discussed the issue of the metro station with him and he would look into it. Encroachments cleared Replying to a question by C.N. Ashwath Narayan (BJP) on the flooding of low-lying areas in the city, Mr Shivakumar said so far 2,395 encroachments on storm-water drains have been cleared.
The Print
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Gang rape, poll rigging, bid to inject rival with HIV—litany of charges against Karnataka BJP MLA Munirathna
The rowdy-sheeter in question was Munirathna, now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Rajarajeshwarinagar, and the police officer, B.B. Ashok Kumar. 'He [Munirathna] then started getting more government contracts, became a city corporator, MLA and even a minister. But then these allegations started coming out,' Kumar told ThePrint. The prisoner did not try to escape and eventually secured the tender to build a road from Bengaluru city to Nandi Hills, a distance of roughly 50 km. This particular stretch was laid about two months before the second SAARC summit was to be held in Bengaluru in November 1986, when heads of states of six SAARC member nations took this road to reach a retreat in Nandi Hills, as planned by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bengaluru: In mid-1986, a handcuffed rowdy-sheeter asked the police officer who arrested him for a favour: to be taken to the city corporation so he could deposit Rs 10,000 for a tender for a road construction project. Hoping this might be a step towards prisoner reform, the officer agreed to escort him to the BBMP head office in handcuffs. 'If you try to escape, you will be shot,' he warned the rowdy-sheeter, then in his early 20s. Last week, a 40-year-old woman accused Munirathna and four of his alleged aides of gang-raping her in 2023, urinating on her face, injecting her with a virus and threatening to kill her entire family if she were to disclose the treatment to anyone. In this case, they have been booked under IPC sections 376D (gang rape), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 354 (assault or criminal force against a woman), and 506 (criminal intimidation), among others. 'This is a case we have sent for the transfer of the SIT, because already an SIT has been established and a request has been made to transfer that case,' said a senior police officer who did not wish to be named. ThePrint reached Munirathna for comment but calls to him went unanswered. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. As of Sunday evening, the the four-time MLA had not been arrested in this case. Over the course of his political career, Munirathna has faced a host of other serious criminal charges—from rape, election rigging to trying to inject a political adversary with HIV-infected blood. He is out on bail in most cases. On his part, the former corporator has levelled serious accusations against political adversaries, particularly D.K. Suresh, the younger brother of Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar. On 25 December last year, during a programme to celebrate former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth anniversary, an egg was hurled at Munirathna. He had then claimed that it was an 'acid egg' and blamed the DK brothers for attempting to kill him. 'D.K. Suresh, D.K. Shivakumar and the defeated (MLA) candidate Kusuma and her father Hanumantharayappa, all of them…about a hundred people tried to kill me in a group,' he told reporters while sitting on a dharna at the spot where he claimed he was attacked. Also Read: Why Karnataka's new police chief is best known as 'one-way Saleem' Cases against Munirathna In September last year, Munirathna walked out of Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara (central jail) where he had spent three days in connection with an SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act case for allegedly hurling casteist abuse against a former corporator. In a recording of a purported phone conversation between Munirathna and a contractor, the BJP MLA was heard using casteist slurs and threatening to 'finish off' the former corporator. But minutes after he stepped out of the central jail, he was arrested again; this time in a case in which a 40-year-old woman accused him and six others of rape, sexual harassment and culpable homicide. In her complaint, the woman alleged Munirathna raped her, filmed the act and used the video to blackmail her. According to the complaint, she was also forced to help Munirathna 'honeytrap' his political rivals. Investigators have filed a chargesheet in this case. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the serious and recurring charges against the MLA, who was elected to the Assembly on a Congress ticket in 2013 and 2018. Police filed a 2,481-page chargesheet which accused Munirathna, along with a police inspector, of trying to inject then revenue minister and now Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka, R. Ashoka, with HIV-infected blood. 'This is an explosive situation. I am not sure if this is true or not and the police should probe this. But if this is the situation in politics, no leader can survive and no minister can carry out their duties. We meet thousands of people every day, accepting hundreds of garlands and bouquets. How do we trust anyone?' Ashoka had told Power TV at the time. Controversies involving Munirathna go back several years. On 1 June, 2010, a 17-year-old girl was killed when a wall at a veterinary college near Bengaluru's Mekri Circle collapsed on her as she was trying to shelter herself from the rain. Munirathna was then a newly-elected corporator from Yeshwanthpur and had overseen the construction of that wall. The issue was debated for days in the city council but he did not face any charges. Three years later, he successfully contested on a Congress ticket from Rajarajeshwarinagar seat. On the eve of the 2018 assembly polls, Munirathna was booked along with 13 others in connection with the recovery of nearly 10,000 fake voter ID cards from an apartment in Jalahalli. Police have filed a chargesheet and he is currently out on bail in this case. In 2019, Munirathna defected to BJP. He was among the 17 legislators who walked out of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance that led to the collapse of the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led coalition government. He was made junior minister for horticulture, as well as planning, programme monitoring and statistics in the B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP governments that followed. While he is now with BJP, Munirathna is still seen as being close to Siddaramaiah and has at times broken with the party line to praise the incumbent Congress government. According to B.B. Ashok Kumar, he is among the many rowdy-sheeters of Bengaluru who entered mainstream politics. Among other things, he is also a movie producer. In the early 1980s, Munirathna was a close aide of Kotwal Ramachandra, a notorious criminal who features in almost every story about Bengaluru's brief tryst with the underworld. Munirathna's brother, Korangu Krishna, too was a rowdy-sheeter. Kumar recalled that after Kotwal died, Munirathna spent many nights at the police station out of fear of being targeted by former boss's rivals. Munirathna's rise in politics also coincided with a surge in his declared wealth—from Rs 28 crore in 2013 to Rs 293 crore in 2023, according to affidavits submitted to the Election Commission. Given his sizable victory margins, Munirathna remains a force to reckon with. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: 'Won't be surprised if Prajwal is welcomed with garlands' — 1 yr on, victims still hiding
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
After alleged rape, gang rape probe against BJP Karnataka MLA: Who is Munirathna Naidu?
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) that had been investigating a string of cases against Karnataka MLA Munirathna Naidu started looking into another case on him Thursday. The latest case was filed Monday by a woman BJP worker who reported an incident of gangrape in the MLA's office from 2023. A day later, the police booked Munirathna and his alleged accomplices — Vasantha, Channakeshava and Kamal – under section 376D (gang rape), 270 (act likely to spread infection), 354 (assault on a woman), and 506 (criminal intimidation). Munirathna's career has been dotted with controversy. He began his political career as a councillor from Yeshwanthpur in North Bangalore and first became an MLA in 2013. Munirathna, a legislator from the Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency, was elected in 2013 and 2018 on a Congress ticket. He jumped ship to the BJP during the political turmoil in 2019 and won the bypoll as the BJP nominee a year later. The following year, in August, he was inducted into the Cabinet as the Minister of Horticulture, and Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics. In 2018, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) named the film producer and contractor-turned-politician in connection with a fake bill scam in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The scam, dating back to 2014, was related to the execution of civic works worth Rs 1,500 crore in the Rajarajeshwarinagar, Malleshwaram, and Gandhinagar constituencies. It was alleged that bills were raised more than once for the same work in some cases, while in others they were claimed for projects that were not even taken up. Munirathna who was a Congress MLA at the time was accused number four in the chargesheet. Another major case was in 2018, when Munirathna found himself entangled was the seizure of around 9,800 voter IDs from an apartment in Jalahalli. Two years later, the Karnataka High Court ordered a re-examination of chargesheets filed in connection with the case in response to a Public Interest Litigation plea that alleged lapses in the investigation. In March 2023, the police booked Munirathna for an alleged hate speech against Christians. The following month, a letter demanding the immediate arrest of Munirathna, who was the Horticulture Minister then in the BJP government, in a hate speech case started a row between him and the Karnataka State Contractors' Association. Later that year, the association's president, D Kempanna, and four other office-bearers were arrested in connection with a defamation case that Munirathna had filed against them. Kempanna had implied, without naming Munirathna, that the minister was threatening officials to extort money. In September 2024, the Karnataka government constituted a SIT to probe multiple allegations against state BJP MLA Munirathna. Among the cases the SIT took up is of alleged sexual abuse of a 40-year-old woman between 2020 and 2022. Complaints in the case claimed he had used her to honeytrap political rivals and infect a former corporator's husband with HIV. Munirathna is known to be associated with contractors in Bengaluru city who control various city projects and was seen to be closely associated with Congress leaders like Ramalinga Reddy and D K Shivakumar. The former minister has also dabbled in films. He is seen to be close to former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and produced a film featuring his son and actor-turned-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy. He also produced the Rajnikanth blockbuster Lingaa. Munirathna is also infamous as the contractor associated with the BBMP wall collapse case in central Bengaluru on June 1, 2010, in which a 17-year-old college girl died.
