People are tired of trusting Congress, BJP: JD(S) leader Krishnamurthy V

The JD(S) has picked a ‘loyal party worker’ Krishnamurthy V, 41, as its candidate for the November 3 Rajarajeshwarinagar bypoll. He talks to Shruthi HM Sastry on his electoral debut and his optimism about winning. Excerpts:

The JD(S) has lost considerable ground and the stakes are high. As a debutant, are you feeling the heat of this pressure?

It’s true that there is a huge responsibility. But, I’m optimistic of victory. People in the constituency are feeling that they did a mistake by voting for the Congress and the BJP. The BJP candidate Munirathna was accused of a vote scam when he was previously with the Congress. B S Yediyurappa himself tweeted about it back then. Then, through Operation Kamala, Munirathna jumped to BJP for his own selfish gains, misusing the voters’ mandate. Meanwhile, honest party workers such as BJP’s Tulasimuniraju Gowda have taken a backseat. People have been watching all these developments. On top of it, the ruling party’s Covid-19 management has been poor, too. Taking all this into account, I’m confident that people will support me.

The Congress has fielded Kusuma Hanumantharayappa. What do you make of her?

Kusuma is like a sister to me. I don’t want to comment on her personally. However, I feel that the contest, in general, is between the BJP and the JD(S). And, I’m confident of winning.

RR Nagar has a significant Vokkaliga population. Do you see this working in your favour?

I don’t see this as a caste issue. I’m the son of a farmer. I’m not interested in caste politics. I intend to take everyone along. Anybody who plays caste politics will not be able to grow. People are interested in voting a youngster who is interested in working for their welfare. The entire state is watching how I will take on powerful opponents. I want to do a good job.

What are your priorities for the constituency if you win?

I want to build schools on the lines of what the Delhi government has done, so that common people can send their children to good schools at an affordable price. The other thing I will focus on is improving government hospitals. These are the two main things that people need. Rest of the infrastructure comes later.