BENGALURU: With three of the disqualified MLAs from the Congress and JDS contesting on BJP tickets in the assembly constituencies in the bypolls, the ruling BJP is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to take over the Congress and JDS bases in Bangalore Urban.
The BJP is confident of winning all four constituencies -- KR Puram, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagar and Yeshwanthpur. Barring Shivajinagar, the three other constituencies were formed after delimitation in 2008. Since then, three elections were held, and the three disqualified MLAs -- Byrathi Basavaraj, Gopalaiah and ST Somashekar -- were twice elected from KR Puram, Mahalakshmi Layout and Yeshwanthpur respectively.
Shivajinagar assembly constituency, one of the oldest in Bengaluru, has seen 12 elections so far, with the BJP winning twice here. Since 2008, Roshan Baig has won the seat thrice on Congress ticket.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, Congress won 14 of the 28 constutuencies, BJP got 12 and JDS won two. It is believed that the party which wins the most number of seats in the state capital comes to power in the state. This came true in 2008, when the BJP had 17 city MLAs, but the number slipped to 12 in 2013 and 11 in 2018.
Mahalakshmi Layout, a new constituency, was carved out of Rajajinagar in 2008, and Narendra Babu had won on a Congress ticket. In 2013, when the BJP gave the ticket to then Deputy Mayor S Harish, the fight between him and Narendra Babu paved the way for Gopalaiah to win the seat.
A first-timer, Gopalaiah is known for his accessibility and is popular here. The seven wards in this constituency have JDS councillors, including Gopalaiah’s wife Hemalatha. Now that he has shifted to the BJP, a couple of his aides have followed him.
In the 2018 assembly election, the BJP fielded Narendra Babu, former Congress MLA. Unhappy over this, local BJP leaders did not support him, calling him an ‘’outsider’’. This again led to Gopalaiah winning on a JDS ticket, with 88,218 votes. This time, though there is similar unhappiness, Gopalaiah seems to be a strong candidate and has the individual capacity to win.
KR Puram is also a new assembly constituency that was formed into in 2008, from where Nandiesh Reddy won on a BJP ticket. Byrathi Basavaraj, a Congress councillor in 2010, became a close aide of Siddaramaiah, and got the ticket in 2013. He defeated Nandiesh Reddy and was re-elected in 2018.
Yeshwanthpur, which was also formed in 2008 after delimitation, had elected Shobha Karandlaje of the BJP as its first MLA. ST Somashekar had lost against her, but with a narrow margin. In 2013 and 2018, Somashekar won, with JDS in second position and BJP in third spot. In 2018, Somashekar polled 1,15,273 votes. This time, if Somashekar wins, BJP can regain the seat, but locals say it is not a walkover for him this time.
t’s a different ball game in Shivajinagar, where three-time MLA Roshan Baig is not contesting. BJP has given the ticket to former councillor Saravana, while the Congress has fielded MLC Rizwan Arshad. The BJP is pinning its hope on dividing Muslim votes as the Congress, JDS and SDPI has fielded Muslim candidates. “If Baig contested even as an Independent, BJP would have lost. Now that he is not there, we will win,’’ said a BJP leader. There is also opposition to the Congress candidate, who is perceived as an “outsider”.
In 2015, Byrathi Basavaraj and Somashekar played an important role in preventing the BJP from coming back to power in the BBMP Council. They fashioned a Congress-JDS coalition in the BBMP and ensured that Congress councillors were not poached by the opposition during the mayoral election. The same duo played a crucial role in pulling down the Congress-JDS coalition government in the state as well as in BBMP.