Karnataka   

Multi-pronged contest likely

KOLAR GOLD FIELDS: The Kolar Gold Fields Assembly segment in Kolar district is among the three seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes. The constituency is poised to witness a multi-pronged contest on May 10, as many of the national parties have decided to field their candidates from here.

After some areas in Bangarpet taluk, of which KGF is a part, were included in this constituency, following the delimitation, the political scene has changed completely in the segment. The parties, which hitherto focussed only on Tamil-speaking people and the working class votes, will now have to put in extra efforts to reach out to new voters.

The now defunct gold mines of the Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) and the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) are the two prominent units in this constituency. The pathetic condition of the people consequent to the closure of the gold mines is likely to dominate the poll campaigning here. It is expected that “golden” assurances about the revival of the mines may flood the doorsteps of the voters.

Earlier, trade unions, particularly Leftist unions, used to influence the results of this Assembly seat. As a consequence, the undivided Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were able to send their representatives to the Assembly from KGF. But after closure of BGML, the Left has lost its sheen.

It is noteworthy here that the Congress has won only once from this reserved constituency. In many of the elections, candidates of the CPI, CPI (M), AIADMK and the Republican Party of India (RPI) have won.

Presently, the Janata Dal (Secular) is ahead in the race with the former MLA M. Bhaktavatsalam already starting his campaign even before filing the nomination papers. Mr. Bhaktavatsalam, who won the seat on the AIADMK ticket, is now with the Janata Dal (S).

The CPI (M) has nominated CITU leader Tangaraj as its candidate, while Sampangi, a realtor from Bangalore is the BJP’s nominee. This has triggered unhappiness in the BJP, with members feeling that “loyal and local” functionaries had been neglected by the party leadership. The CPI is expected to field trade union leader Jyothy Basu.

The NSUI State president N. Srinivas’s candidature has been approved, much to the dislike of Union Minister K.H. Muniyappa. The AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa has already announced Anandaraj as her party’s nominee.

There are 82,730 male and 81,907 female voters in KGF segment, and 189 polling booths have been set up.

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