The move by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) to field Ismail Shafi Bellare, an accused in the murder of Yuva Morcha (youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Praveen Kumar Nettaru, and Riyaz Farangipet as its candidates in the communally-sensitive Dakshina Kannada district has become a topic of discussion in Karnataka ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections. Praveen (32) was hacked to death by bike-borne assailants on the night of July 26, 2022, at Bellare in Dakshina Kannada district.
SDPI is fielding 19 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. According to IANS, the party is likely to give a tough fight to former minister and senior Congress leader UT Khader in the Mangaluru (Ullal) Assembly constituency. Talking to IANS, the party’s national secretary Riyaz Farangipet said the SDPI is not just active during elections, but throughout the year it represents the people on one issue or the other across India.
"Despite not being in power, SDPI ensures that schemes of the government reach the poor," he said. Other political parties which have opened online help centres are charging money for their services, but SDPI is doing it for free, he said.
"We are not power hungry but we want to be part of power. That is why we are focusing only on those constituencies where we can win," said Riyaz, who is contesting from the Mangaluru (Ullal) Assembly constituency. Ismail Shafi Bellare, who's presently lodged in jail in connection with Nettaru's murder, is contesting from the Puttur Assembly seat. The SDPI decision to field a candidate accused of murder has made national headlines. Even Riyaz, who was accused of inciting people to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens through messages on WhatsApp in 2019, has faced sedition charges. During NIA’s nationwide crackdown, Riyaz’s house was also raided in September 2022.
Riyaz had taken out a huge rally to file his nomination for the Mangaluru constituency. According to IANS, SDPI is aggressively campaigning against Congress candidate Khader in the wake of the hijab controversy and the boycott call on Muslim traders. Khader has won from this constituency three times since 2008 by defeating BJP candidates. In 2018, Khader defeated Santhosh Kumar Rai Boliyaru of the BJP by more than 19,000 votes. The BJP had won this seat three consecutive times between 1994 and 2004.
Khader, known as a progressive leader, is facing stiff competition from the SDPI this time in the Muslim-dominated constituency. It was the only constituency that the Congress won in Dakshina Kannada district in 2018, as all the other seats were swept by the BJP.
Reacting to the sedition charges against him, Riyaz said, "Cases are always lodged against people who take up big agitations. We can see IPS officer Sanjeev Bhat being jailed. Our prime ministers and chief ministers have gone to jail. I will fight the cases lodged against me in the court."
When asked about Praveen Nettaru's murder accused Shafi Bellare, he said that his arrest was pre-planned. “Shafi Bellare and his brother Iqbal Bellare have been arrested due to the pressure put by the Sangh Parivar,” he said.
"We will question his arrest in the court," Riyaz said. According to him, Bellare was chosen as an SDPI candidate at the screening committee meeting before Nettare's murder and only the announcement was pending. Contesting elections from prison is not new in India, he said.