How Modi, Shah visits proved pivotal for Tejasvi Surya

BENGALURU: When Tejasvi Surya was announced the BJP candidate for Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency, it triggered a rebellion of sorts which threatened to upset the saffron party’s apple cart. The ominous absence of senior leaders during the filing of his nomination fuelled speculation that the Congress could wrest the seat from the BJP after a gap of 28 years.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah personally graced Surya’s campaign and the 28-year-old rookie had the last laugh. In fact, he secured handsome leads in all eight assembly segments in the constituency against his nearest rival BK Hariprasad of the Congress.
It is clear from the numbers that the BJP’s disgruntled legislators — R Ashoka, V Somanna and Satish Reddy — fell in line after Shah, who held a roadshow to campaign for Surya, cracked the whip. Setting aside differences, Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, who apparently suffered heartburn for having been denied the ticket, also turned out to campaign for the youngster.
“Shah’s visit to Bengaluru was the turning point,” said Uday Garudachar, Chickpet MLA from whose assembly segment Surya gained a lead of about 9,000 votes. “He ironed out all the differences and there was no looking back for us from there on.”
Padmanabhanagar and Govindarajnagar, represented by Ashoka and Somanna respectively, delivered huge leads of 50,822 and 58,265 votes. Bommanahalli, represented by Satish Reddy, recorded a mere 47% voter turnout, yet Surya garnered a huge lead of 64,395 votes in the assembly segment.
Shah’s roadshow was followed by a massive Modi rally which swept aside all adversities Surya faced. The smear campaign over a sexual harassment case, the controversy over his stand on women’s reservation and his shrill Hindutva ideology, besides the alleged mass deletion of voters from the electoral rolls, all paled under the Modi glitter.
Also, the Congress appeared to slump out without a fight as all its three MLAs from the segment — Ramalinga Reddy, Sowmya Reddy and M Krishnappa — failed to secure leads for Hariprasad, their candidate.
But Congress MLA’s failure to deliver worked against the party in other segments too in Bengaluru.
In Bengluru North, rural development and panchayat raj minister Krishna Byregowda, failed to get a lead in his own assembly segment Bytarayanapura. He recorded a deficit of 64,395 votes in the segment against his BJP rival, Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda. The only saving grace was Pulakeshinagar, represented by Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy which fetched Byregowda a lead (89,727 votes).
“Byregowda could not focus on his own assembly seat since he had little time to campaign as his candidature was announced late,” said a close aide of the minister. “However, it was the Modi wave that felled us.”
In Bengaluru Rural too, a stronghold of the Congress and the lone seat it won, the winning margin dropped. The results suggest the BJP made inroads in two assembly segments in the constituency — RR Nagar and Bengaluru South — both under city limits. In these assembly segments BJP candidate Aswanthanaryayana Gowda garnered leads of 27,720 and 49,070 votes respectively against Congress’ DK Suresh.