Rowdy-sheeter-turned-Contractor-turned-Film Producer-turned-Politician, Munirathna is a man of many hats — and he is once again in jail.
Published Sep 23, 2024 | 1:00 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2024 | 9:20 PM
BJP's Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA Munirathna (Supplied)
On 14 April 2023, South First predicted a win for Munirathna Naidu, known more by the mononym Munirathna, in the Assembly elections. He won as predicted though the party he represented, the BJP, was humiliated. Who is BJP MLA Munirathna Naidu?
Munirathna’s rise in politics was meteoric. His assets grew tenfold in the past decade, as it touched ₹293.60 crore in 2023 from ₹28.83 crore in 2013. During the last three years of BJP’s rule in Karnataka, Munirathna’s wealth surged four times, from ₹89 crore in 2020 to ₹293.60 crore in 2023. He was the minister for horticulture, and Planning, Programme Monitoring in the Basavaraj Bommai Cabinet.
No one questioned the spike, for the Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA has been known as a man of many hats.
A rowdy-sheeter-turned-contractor-turned-film-producer-turned-politician, Munirathna runs a diverse portfolio of businesses beyond politics, ranging from Class-I contractor to construction companies, film production, and real estate ventures, particularly in Bengaluru.
Despite facing serious allegations, including involvement in the infamous BBMP fake bill scam of 2014 and the creation of over 9,500 fake voter IDs in 2018, Munirathna has consistently won the Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly seat for three consecutive terms, 2013, 2018, and 2023.
In his 2023 affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Munirathna declared eight criminal cases against him. This number is expected to rise, as he is currently facing fresh charges of extortion, atrocity, and sexual harassment.
On 21 September 2023, a court remanded him in 14 days in judicial custody.
Munirathna was born to Subramanya Naidu in Bengaluru on 23 July 1964. His father worked at construction sites as a bricklayer.
Subramanya Naidu had migrated from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, in search of a better livelihood and settled in Vyalikaval locality in Malleswaram, where Munirathna grew up. He studied up to Class 10.
Munirathna has a younger brother, Krishna alias Korangu, a notorious rowdy-sheeter, facing severe charges of murder, attempted murder, dacoity, and extortion.
During his early days in Bengaluru, Munirathna was one of the associates of Bengaluru’s underworld gangster Kotwal Ramachandra. He was arrested by the Anti-Rowdy Squad, led by DCP S Mariswamy under the then Bengaluru City Police Commissioner PG Harlankar, in the 1980s.
The squad was set up by then-chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde to curb the growing underworld menace in the state capital. Initially, Munirathna faced only cases of issuing threats and assault. However, he was registered as a history sheeter at Vyalikaval police station. Later, the rowdy sheet against him was closed.
He later started reforming himself. Local politicians and police helped him move away from the underworld, and he transitioned into a small-time contractor.
Related: Fresh FIR filed for rape and sexual harassment
In the 1980s, Munirathna managed to get a Class-III contractor licence. He once approached Congress leader BK Hariprasad, now an MLC, for a job as a watchman at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall.
However, Hariprasad, recognising his contracting experience, encouraged him to continue contract work and helped him secure loans.
Munirathna’s career took off when actor Anant Nag, was the Bangalore Development Minister in the JH Patel government. Exploiting Nag’s alleged weakness, he secured more civil contracts between 1996 and 1999.
He quickly expanded his business and set up his own construction company, Vrushbavathi Constructions, advancing from a Class-III contractor to Class-I in a short time. His success in the construction business allowed him to venture into the more glamorous film industry.
In 2006-07, he produced Anatharu. The star-studded cast included Upendra, Darshan, and Radhika. When the then-chief minister HD Kumaraswamy requested that actress Radhika be given the distribution rights, Munirathna agreed, helping her profit from the movie’s success.
He went on to produce other hit films such as Raktha Kanneeru, Katari Veera Surasundarangi, and Kurukshetra. His political connections helped him balance his relationships with Congress, JD(S), and BJP, strategically casting actors like Darshan and Nikhil Kumaraswamy.
His success in construction and films allowed him to invest in the Kannada media house, Public TV, along with film producer Rockline Venkatesh and Lahari Music’s Manohar Naidu, further solidifying his influence. Eventually, Munirathna stepped away from the media business to focus on politics.
Munirathna’s ties with key figures in politics, such as Anant Nag and HD Kumaraswamy, and underworld gangsters such as Kotwala Ramachandra, provided him with opportunities in public office.
In 2010, he successfully contested from Ward No. 37 in Yeshwanthpura in the BBMP elections, winning his first political race.
Three years later, in 2013, he won the Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly segment on a Congress ticket. Although securing the party ticket was not easy, Munirathna, with support from film producer Rockline Venkatesh, managed to outmanoeuvre businessman Krishnamurthy, who had initially been given the B-form by the then KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar. Munirathna’s combination of money and muscle power secured his victory.
In 2019, Munirathna was one of 17 MLAs (14 Congress, 3 JD(S)) whose defection brought down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, paving the way for BJP’s BS Yediyurappa to form the government.
In the 2020 Assembly by-elections, Munirathna won again from Rajarajeshwarinagar on a BJP ticket. Under the Basavaraj Bommai government, he was given the Horticulture, Planning, Programme Monitoring, and Statistics portfolios.
In the 2023 assembly elections, BJP’s Munirathna secured his third consecutive win, albeit by a narrow margin of 11,842 votes against Congress’s Kusuma Hanumanthappa.
Munirathna has maintained strong connections with politicians from all major parties and has been a key funder for whichever party he aligns with. Once a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Munirathna found Modi campaigning for him in 2023.
In his 2023 election affidavit, Munirathna declared eight criminal cases registered against him.
Three fresh FIRs have since been registered against him. They included charges of extortion, atrocity, and sexual harassment, taking the total number of cases past 10.
Munirathna has been able to quash earlier charges, either through police intervention or court orders, claimed sources.
In 2010, in his first year as a BBMP corporator, he faced charges over the collapse of the Government Veterinary College compound wall on Bellary Road, which resulted in the death of 17-year-old Sanjana Singh. The Karnataka Lokayukta charged Munirathna and the co-contractor for the collapse.
In 2014, he was implicated in the BBMP fake bill scam, an alleged ₹1,500 crore scandal in which contractors, in collusion with BBMP officials, submitted duplicate bills for public works. The CID charge-sheeted Munirathna as accused No. 4 in 2018.
He was also involved in the infamous 2018 voter ID fraud case, where over 9,500 fake IDs were found in an apartment in Rajarajeshwarinagar. The case remains under investigation, with the high court ordering a re-examination of the chargesheet in 2020, according to a TOI report.
In another controversy, Karnataka State Contractors’ Association (KSCA) President D Kempanna accused Munirathna of demanding a 40% commission on contract works in 2020. Munirathna filed a defamation suit against Kempanna and 17 others, leading to arrests. The 40% commission claim was a key campaign point for Congress in the 2023 elections.
Munirathna was also booked for an alleged hate speech against Christians in his constituency in April 2023. He was also accused of inciting hatred between Kannadigas and Tamilians during the Assembly elections in Rajarajeshwarinagar segment.
In September 2024, Munirathna was arrested on extortion and atrocity charges based on contractor Cheluvaraju’s complaint. He was released on bail on 18 September, only to be arrested the next day on sexual harassment charges. The court remanded him in 14 days of judicial custody on 21 September.
(With inputs from former police officers, contractors and Munirathna’s close aides. Edited by Majnu Babu).
