Congress takes control of Bengaluru, bastion of the BJP

BENGALURU: Long considered the bastion of the BJP, on account of the large middle class and upper middle class presence, the Congress has finally appeared to have made inroads in the capital city of Karnataka with the victory of Jayanagar on Wednesday.
KPCC president, deputy chief minister and Bengaluru development minister G Parameshwara also hinted at capturing Bengaluru city with his tweet, "A heartfelt thank you goes to the voters who saw the future in @INCKarnataka. With this impactful win, we have now conquered 15 out of 28 Assembly seats in Bengaluru."

Despite having held on to only 79 seats out of the 224 vis-a-vis 123 seats in 2013, Bengaluru appears to have been swayed towards the Congress purely due to the victories of individual candidates from the party rather than the party itself.

From Byrathi brothers, Suresh and Basavaraju, to ministers like Krishna Byregowda and Zameer Ahmad Khan, the individual charisma has been prime reason for the Congress to secure the upper hand in the city.

The Congress also appears to have benefitted with the right choice of candidates in the city this time, by “recognising” the right individuals like Suresh (Hebbal), Soumya Reddy (Jayanagar), Zameer (Chamrajpet) and Akhanda Srinivasmurthy (Pulakeshinagar), apart from their stalwarts who have won their constituencies no less than three times each.

While Suresh and Soumya had the backing of their families, Zameer and Akhanda jumped from JD(S) to Congress ahead of the 2018 elections.

The Congress has managed to secure half the city constituencies by winning 15 of the 28 segments and cemented its position in the city with its stalwart leaders. And with the coalition with JD(S), the total strength of both the parties increase to 17 seats.

In comparison, the BJP numbers have dropped to 11 seats as compared to 13 and 14 in the 20013 and 2008 elections, when it was at its peak in the city.

The victory in the Jayanagar elections on Wednesday reaffirms this with the constituency having elected Soumya Reddy, daughter of seven time MLA and former minister Ramalinga Reddy.

Soumya’s victory comes as no surprise, despite Jayanagar being one of the bastions of the BJP where it has won the last two terms consecutively.

The Congress MLA’s father and also a sitting MLA from adjoining BTM constituency had represented Jayanagar four times prior to delimitation.

Further, unlike the BJP, which pressed all its top leaders into campaigning for their candidate B N Prahalad including an union minister in Ananth Kumar, Vokkaliga leaders like R Ashoka and Shobha Karandlaje and BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa, the Congress stalwart single handedly campaigned for his daughter for the last two months to achieve the slim margin victory.

Speaking to the media, Reddy said, "As a seven time MLA, I have never asked any of our KPCC or national leaders to come and campaign for me. This time too, KPCC president G Parameshwara and D K Shivakumar offered to come and campaign. But I, myself, told them that if required I will ask. This is my old constituency and I was hoping for a better victory margin for my daughter. However, it does not matter as a victory is a victory."