[1][2] Former MLA Vasanth Bangera and congress party workers organized a protest outside his office demanding to reveal the accounts for a flood relief fund setup under Harish Poonja's leadership.
[3] A team of local villagers from Dharmasthala, met with Poonja requesting that he not issue any permissions for construction of hotels and guest houses in the temple town since it will lead to desecration of the place.
He justified his controversial remark that “from the current financial year, the tax paid by Hindus should be used only for the welfare of Hindus.”[5] In the 15th Karnataka Assembly election, Poonja defeated K. Vasantha Bangera, a five-time MLA from the Indian National Congress with a margin of 22,974 votes.
In the 16th Karnataka Assembly election, Harish Poonja was re-elected as the MLA for Belthangady constituency with a substantial lead of 18,216 votes, defeating Rakshith Shivaram from the Indian National Congress.
This article about a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Karnataka is a stub.