BJP’s Raja Amareshwara Naik To Take On Former Bureaucrat In Raichur

The Bharat Janata Party (BJP) has fielded sitting MP and erstwhile royal, Raja Amareshwara Naik in the Raichur constituency. Born in 1957 in Guntagula, Raichur, Naik is a law graduate and was elected to the Assembly twice. 

He has earned his BA and LLB from Mysore university and Karnataka university in Chitradurga. He began his political career with the Congress and served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the first term, from 1989 to 1994. During this period, he has held several positions including Minister of the state in the Government of Karnataka, and Chairperson of SC/ST legislature committee in the Karnataka Legislative assembly. 

Though there are eight candidates in the fray for the election which is to be held on May 7, the fight will be directly between former IAS officer Kumar Naik of the Congress and MP Raja Amareshwar Naik of the BJP.  During the election campaigns, Naik has claimed that the development works are being implemented in a speedy and effective way as the union government has chosen the Raichur district under the aspirational districts category by the NITI Aayog. 

Naik was reelected as the MLA for the second term from 1999 to 2004. During his second term, he served as the Chief Whip of the Congress Legislative Party in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (1999-2000). 

In 2013, once again Naik switched the party and joined the Janata Dal (Secular) and a year later he joined the saffron party. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he was elected as the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Raichur.