The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Here, it is ‘outsider’ versus ‘insider’

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Here, it is ‘outsider’ versus ‘insider’

Anil Kumar Sastry and Nagesh Prabhu

A straight fight between Congress’ Somashekhar and BJP’s Shobha Karandlaje

Panchalingaiah and Bette Gowda are among others in the fray
The constituency has a mixture of urban and rural environment

BANGALORE: Yeshwantpur Assembly constituency is a misnomer given the fact that the old urban pockets of Yeshwantapur do not form part of the constituency. Yeshwantpur which earlier formed part of the Malleswaram constituency had always been in the centre-stage of Assembly elections given its thickly populated wards.

A straight fight between S.T. Somashekhar of the Congress and Shobha Karandlaje, MLC of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is on at Yeshwantpur and the Congress is rightly working at encashing in on the “outsider” issue as Ms. Karandlaje comes from Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada district.

Mr. Somashekhar had lost to BJP’s R. Ashok by a margin of 80,000 votes in the 2004 Assembly polls at Uttarahalli.

Panchalingaiah of the Janata Dal (Secular), Bette Gowda of the Bahujan Samaj Party and M. Venkatesh, independent, are the others in the fray.

Yeshwantpur constituency mainly comprises areas that were recently added to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The important feature of the constituency is the mixture of urban and rural environment, with hardly any civic amenities. Important villages of Yeshwantpur Hobli, Handrahalli, Kodigehalli and Ullalu; all villages of Tavarekere Hobli in the neighbouring Ramanagaram district; many villages in Uttarahalli Hobli, including Talaghattapura; Kengeri Town Municipal Council and parts of Rajarajeshwarinagar form the constituency. The electorate comprises 2,62,898 voters of which 1,37,562 are male and 1,25,336 female. As a large number of the electorate are Vokkaligas (nearly a lakh), all the three major parties have fielded Vokkaliga candidates.

However, Tavarakere Hobli comprises Kurubas in large numbers (nearly 30,000), the alienation of which from Magadi made the former Minister, H.M. Revanna, to migrate to Hebbal to take on the former Minister, Katta Subramanya Naidu.

Even Mr. Somashekhar, a resident of BTM Layout, is dubbed as an “outsider” by the Janata Dal(S), whose candidate Panchalingaiah resides in Hemmigepura.

However, Ms. Karandlaje, who has changed her name as Shobha Monappa Gowda Karandlaje to woo Vokkaliga votes, claims that she better understands the problems of Yeshwantpur voters as she comes from a rural background.

Though a majority of the areas are in the BBMP at present, some areas except those in the limits of the erstwhile Kengeri TMC, lack basic amenities in the form of proper roads, drinking water, sanitation and streetlights. Though Bangalore Development Authority’s Visvesvaraya Layout and a few other approved layouts have some civic facilities, the rest, comprising revenue layouts, are crying for attention.

Both Mr. Somashekhar and Ms. Karandlaje are trying to draw the attention of women voters by contacting Stree Shakti Groups which are present in large numbers in the constituency. Both of them are alleged to have offered largesse to these groups. This has even come to the notice of the Election Commission, with Returning Officer Mirza Akbarulla issuing a warning to the candidates. Employees of government and aided institutions accompanying these candidates for door-to-door campaigning is a common scene.

Upper hand

Having polled 2,29,308 votes in the undivided Uttarahalli constituency in 2004, Mr. Somashekhar is in an upbeat mood. Having served the public for over two decades, Mr. Somashekhar is a known face to the people.

Ms. Karandlaje intends to cash in on the benefits of welfare schemes initiated by the former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, and the popularity of Mr. Ashok and Rajarajeshwarinagar BJP candidate M. Srinivas (who had polled 1.3 lakh votes in Uttarahalli on the Janata Dal(S) ticket in 2004) in the constituency.

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