Lok Sabha Polls: Siddaramaiah Leads Fiery Bengaluru Campaign, But Can Congress Break the IT City Jinx?

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah during a roadshow, in Bengaluru on April 8. (Image: PTI/Shailendra Bhojak)

Launching a tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP MPs, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah led the Congress campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Bengaluru over the past two days, crisscrossing the IT city bursting at the seams.

Seeking votes for Bengaluru South candidate Sowmya Reddy and Bengaluru Central candidate Mansoor Ali Khan, Siddaramaiah exuded confidence that people in the state capital will vote out the BJP this time. Reminding them that it was the Congress that had made Bengaluru the world’s fourth largest IT city after Silicon Valley, Boston and London, the chief minister thundered that the prime minister’s “communal and divisive” politics will soon expire.

Describing BJP MP Tejasvi Surya as an “immature” politician and two other candidates, PC Mohan and Shobha Karandlaje, as “useless”, he stressed on the need to elect the Congress this time. His roadshow had a massive following and some even expect a change this time. But, many believe it is all sound and fury.

The ruling Congress last won a seat from Bengaluru way back in 1999. Congress stalwart and former railway minister CK Jaffer Sharief was the party’s last MP from the state capital. Understandably, the party is embarrassed and worried about this. The drought of seats in the city has made it feel like it is being taken for a ride by the electorate.

Bengaluru, with a population of more than 1.5 crore people, has three Lok Sabha seats. Parts of the city are also in the rural seat. It had two seats till delimitation in 2009 and, since then, the BJP has been winning all three seats. Before that, the saffron party had won both the seats in 2004.

Bengaluru South

When the city had two Lok Sabha seats, the north repeatedly elected Sharief and the completely urban south has voted against the Congress since 1977 – this is barring 1989, when former CM R Gundurao of the Congress won by a big margin.

The south seat has been with the BJP since 1991. The Congress has made several attempts to win the prestigious seat, but failed. Even Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani lost from there in 2014.

The closest the Congress has come to winning it was in 2009, when the present revenue minister Krishna Byregowda lost to the BJP’s Ananth Kumar by a small margin of 29,000 votes. Since then, the BJP has been winning this seat with a margin in lakhs with the Congress left groping in the dark.

This time, however, the Congress is making a serious attempt to win the seat by fielding former MLA Sowmya Reddy. She had lost to the BJP from Jayanagara by only 16 votes in the assembly election last year, and is hopeful of giving a tough fight to Tejasvi Surya.

Her helping hand – her father and transport minister R Ramalinga Reddy’s personal touch and political influence in the seat. He has won eight straight assembly polls from the same seat (Jayanagara and BTM Layout assembly segments) since 1989, and is considered an organisation man known for his ability to swing the result.

But Modi, mandir and Hindutva plus the BJP’s appeal among the middle and upper middle classes are coming in the way of a march to Parliament. Somya told News18 that people are fed up with Tejasvi and will vote against him. But, rubbishing her statement, the sitting MP said Bengaluru South was a BJP citadel and he will easily sail through once again.

Bengaluru Central

Bengaluru Central is a newly carved constituency, which has been with the BJP since its creation in 2009. The party has fielded its sitting MP, PC Mohan, for the fourth consecutive term. Unlike north and south, central has five Congress MLAs of whom three are powerful cabinet ministers.

The Congress has always fielded a minority candidate here. It lost by 30,000 votes in 2009, 70,000 in 2014 and over one lakh in 2019.

This time, the Congress candidate is Mansoor Ali Khan. He is new to the seat and is solely dependent on the party’s position to win. Since the constituency has a large number of Muslim and Christian voters, the Congress feels victory is in sight.

But, the result of the previous polls tells a different story. Mohan has maintained that he will win because of his work and Prime Minister Modi.

The Congress has strictly warned its MLAs and ministers that a defeat might deprive them of any power in the future, forcing them to hit the ground.

Bengaluru North

The Bengaluru North seat is witnessing a battle of the Gowdas. This seat has a large number of Vokkaliga voters, and both the BJP and Congress have fielded candidates from the same community.

The BJP has given a ticket to union minister Shobha Karandlaje instead of sitting MP DV Sadananda Gowda. The sulking former CM has reluctantly agreed to back her, holding BS Yediyurappa responsible for his plight.

A BJP MLA, ST Somashekhar, has openly pledged his support to the Congress candidate raising the hopes of Prof MV Rajeev Gowda, who is trying his luck for the first time. A former Rajya Sabha member, MV Rajeev Gowda is a new entrant to electoral politics and, like his fellow candidate Khan, is depending solely on party and his caste.

He is also expecting a breach in the BJP votes. Karandlaje’s candidature has not gone down well with some leaders and they may not actively take part in the campaign.

But, the BJP is hopeful of a win based on its old position. The PM is expected to hold a roadshow in this seat coming Sunday (April 14).

Bengaluru votes differently in assembly and parliamentary elections. In the assembly poll, the Congress mostly wins 40 to 50 per cent of the seats, strangely losing all the seats in the Lok Sabha election. Some blame the “adjustment politics” of Congress MLAs with BJP leaders for this trend.

“It is an open secret that many Congress MLAs in the city don’t want their own party MPs. They help the BJP win. The same BJP MPs help these MLAs win later. Unless this kind of adjustment is broken, the Congress can’t win in the city,” said a Congress leader, who had earlier lost on the party ticket.

The question all Congress members are asking is if the party will be able to break this jinx this time.