Lok Sabha election 2024: The prestigious Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka is among the constituencies that will go to polls on April 26 in the second phase of the ongoing elections. Out of a total of 28 constituencies in Karnataka, 14 constituencies will vote in the second phase on Friday.
In Bangalore South, BJP's firebrand leader Tejasvi Surya will face off against Sowmya Reddy of the ruling Congress party. Tejasvi Surya, an RSS swayamsevak and a law graduate, has been representing Bangalore South as its MP since 2019 and is now eyeing his second term from the constituency.
In 2019, the BJP chose Tejasvi Surya to represent the constituency after Ananth Kumar, the saffron party's six-time MP from the constituency, passed away due to pancreatic cancer in 2018. Surya became the youngest BJP MP in the Lok Sabha after defeating Congress veteran BK Hariprasad by a massive margin of more than 3.3 lakh votes.
Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of Karnataka Muzrai and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, is a former MLA from Jayanagar. Sowmya Reddy lost the Assembly Elections from Jayanagar by a margin of mere 16 votes. The Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency has a sizeable Brahmin population and has been represented mostly by the members of the community.
Bangalore South-- A BJP bastion since 1996
The Lok Sabha constituency, which has 8 Assembly segments, has been a BJP pocket borough since 1996, when late Ananth Kumar won the general elections against Varalakshmi Gundu Rao, wife of former Karnataka CM R Gundu Rao.
After this, Kumar went onto win from the seat for five consecutive times. Later, he won from the seat in 1998 by more than 4.29 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 53.83 per cent. He bagged the seat in the 1999 elections as well with a vote share of around 51 per cent. Kumar managed to win the seat in both 2004 and 2009 general elections with a vote share of more than 48 per cent.
In the 2014 general elections, the BJP stalwart won the seat by a record 6.33 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of roughly 56.88 per cent. After the demise of Ananth Kumar, Tejasvi Surya won from the seat in 2019 by more than 7.39 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 62.20 per cent, around 5.32 per cent more than what Kumar got in his last election.
Tejasvi Surya's campaign
Riding high on the 2019 win, Surya has been underlining the achievements of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership in the past decade during meetings with voters. He has also conducted talks by right-wing intellectuals, especially those affiliated with the Sangh and Sangh Parivar in Bangalore South. Tejasvi Surya has gained more public currency due to his controversial statements. On one occasion, Surya said that the "BJP should unapologetically be a party for Hindus."
A real challenge for Sowmya Reddy
Securing a win in this BJP bastion could be a real challenge for Sowmya Reddy. Since 1977, the grand old Congress has only won in Bangalore South once when ex-CM R Gundu Rao emerged victorious in 1989.
In order to ensure the Congress' second win in the BJP bastion since 1989, Reddy has been highlighting how the 'Shakti' guarantee of the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government has allowed women to travel in non-luxury buses across the southern state for free.
During canvassing, she has also highlighted the Congress' four other guarantees-- Gruha Lakshmi, Gurha Jyothi, Yuva Nidhi and Anna Bhagya. The Gruha Lakshmi scheme in Karnataka is aimed at providing monetary aid of Rs 2,000 per month to the head woman of the family.
The Gruha Jyothi scheme of the Congress promises up to 200 units of free electricity to every household in the state. Besides this, the grand old party has promised under the Yuva Nidhi scheme that it will provide Rs 3,000 per month to degree holders and Rs 1,500 per month to diploma holders who have been unable to find a job in the past 6 months and aren't pursuing higher studies.
The Anna Bhagya scheme of the Siddaramaiah government aims to provide subsidised food grains to eligible beneficiaries, especially those below the poverty line.