The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Political heavyweights battle it out in Ramanagara District Profile: Ramanagara

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Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
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Karnataka

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Political heavyweights battle it out in Ramanagara District Profile: Ramanagara

B.S. Satish Kumar

The high-profile district has elected three Chief Ministers

New district lost one Assembly segment
P.G.R. Sindhia decides against contesting this time

BANGALORE: Ramanagara, one of the two new districts which were formed recently, is a politically sensitive district owing to the rivalry between the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress for supremacy. This district, which is known for silk production and wooden lacquerware, is politically significant as it has elected three Chief Ministers — Kengal Hanumanthaiya, H.D. Deve Gowda and H. D. Kumaraswamy.

In fact, it had become a high-profile district when Mr. Kumaraswamy was Chief Minister, as various development projects, including the health university and medical college, were sanctioned.

The main feature of this district is the presence of prominent political leaders like Mr. Kumaraswamy, Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar and Bahujan Samaj Party national general secretary P.G.R. Sindhia.

The new district, which earlier had five Assembly constituencies, has lost Sathnur after the delimitation exercise. Only Ramangara, Channapatna, Kanakapura and Magadi constituencies are left with it.

Supremacy

Interestingly, the shrinkage in the number of constituencies has only increased its political sensitiveness as the fight for political supremacy has further intensified. Mr. Kumaraswamy’s arch rival Mr. Shivakumar is now likely to contest from Kanakapura as his home constituency of Sathnur does not exist after delimitation exercise. Mr. Sindhia, who had been elected from Kanakapura in the previous Assembly elections, has decided against contesting this time.

While Mr. Kumaraswamy has said he would contest from Ramanagara, the Congress is yet to reveal its strategy in that constituency. In Channapatna, the Congress is facing a problem as two former MLAs C.P. Yogeshwar and M. Varade Gowda are aspiring for the party ticket. In Magadi, the Janata Dal (Secular) is fielding the former MLA Balakrishna while Congress leader H.M. Revanna is reportedly making efforts to migrate to a new constituency in Bangalore.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is still not a force to reckon with in this district, is making efforts to increase its growth.

The district has a total of 7,33,638 voters. Of them, 3,71,228 are men and 3,62,410 are women. It has a significant Muslim population.

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