Bengaluru: Hebbal is one of the assembly segments in the city that hogs the limelight for one or the other reasons. Due to its proximity to the software companies on the Outer Ring Road, especially at Nagavara, Hebbal has become the favourite destination for techies as well as other businessmen.
As far as civic issues are concerned, most of the roads, except the Ballari Road that leads to Kempegowda International Airport, are narrow and not widened even after decades to facilitate smooth movement of vehicular traffic in most of the areas in this assembly segment that is represented by BJP MLA Y A Narayanaswamy in the State Assembly.
Traffic jams have become the order of the day in this densely populated constituency. The residents, for that matter, those from other neighbouring assembly constituencies want the elected representatives to convince the government to find a permanent solution for the traffic problems in this assembly constituency.
“There was a proposal for the construction of the steel flyover between Basaveswara Circle and Esteem Mall near Hebbal. The proposal became a political issue and the government cancelled it. Had the government implemented the project, there would not have been any traffic problems here. Now, one needs more than an hour to commute a few kms on this road during peak hours,’’ complains Venkatesh, a social activist who staged a protest demanding the government not to cancel the steel flyover project.
The expansion of Hebbal flyover is also to remain on the paper due to various reasons. Recently, the National Green Tribunal had directed the authorities to ensure buffer zone 75 metres around the lakes in Bengaluru. “The flyover is within the 75 metres from Hebbal Lake. It may not be easy for the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) to carry out its proposal to widen the flyover,’’ Radhakrishna S, a resident of Hebbal said.
Hebbal is one of the few assembly constituencies that has maximum number of BBMP wards. It has eight wards, four being Sanjaynagar, Ganganagar, Gangenahalli and Jayachamarajendra Nagar represented by BJP corporators and the remaining by Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) corporators. Congress corporators represent Hebbal and Manorayanapalya wards while JD (S) corporators were elected from Radhakrishna Temple and Vishwanatha Nagenahalli wards in the elections held in 2015.
The voters of Hebbal Assembly constituency have been electing BJP candidates since 2008, including during the by-election held in 2016. BJP candidate Katta Subramaniam Naidu defeated Congress candidate H M Revanna in 2008 by a majority of 4,951 votes. Naidu did not get ticket to contest in 2013 to the Assembly due to pending criminal cases against him. BJP gave ticket to R Jagadish Kumar, a trusted aide of Naidu, in 2013. Kumar defeated Congress candidate C K Abdul Rahman Sharief by a majority of 5,136 votes. With the bye-election necessitated by the demise of Kumar. BJP selected Y A Narayana Swamy to contest from Hebbal in 2016 while Congress wanted to give one more chance to Rahman Sharief.
Narayana Swamy defeated Congress candidate Rahman Sharief by a margin of 19,149 votes. Ismail Sharief Nana of Janata Dal (Secular) lost deposit along with 18 other candidates in the by-election. While Narayana Swamy polled 60,367 votes, Abdul Rahman Sharief got only 41,218 votes and Ismail Sharief Nana polled 3,666 votes.
Though Congress candidate Sharief polled more votes than in 2013 Assembly election, BJP candidate Narayana Swamy got around 22,000 more votes than the then R Jagadish Kumar who polled 38,162 votes in the election held in 2013.
Though Congress leaders had tried their best to grab Hebbal Assembly seat from BJP by assigning Minister for Power D K Shivakumar the supervision and management of the by-election campaign, BJP leaders had succeeded in winning the confidence of the voters. Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, with the cooperation of local BJP leaders, succeeded in ensuring the victory of BJP candidate YA Narayana Swamy.
Political analysts opine that lack of unity and coordination among Congress leaders is the main reason for the defeat of the party candidate Rahman Sharief. According to them, the lack of coordination among the Congress leaders, especially the old ones and supporters of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, was quite evident from the day of the announcement of schedule for the by-election.
Siddaramaiah wanted to give the ticket to his supporter MLC Byrathi Suresh who is considered as a potential candidate to give tough competition to BJP candidate but Congress high command, influenced by veterans like Mallikarjun Kharge, Oscar Fernandes and S M Krishna, had preferred Abdul Rahman Sharief, the grandson of former union railway minister C K Jaffer Sharief.
According to reliable sources, voters from Kuruba community have voted for BJP candidate since Congress had refused to give ticket to Byrathi Suresh, who is also a Kuruba. Voters from Gowda community, despite S M Krishna and D K Shivakumar campaigning in support of Congress candidate, voted in favour of Narayana Swamy who belongs to Gowda community. Narayana Swamy hails from Srinivaspur in Kolar district.
“I am prepared to contest the Assembly polls in 2018 from Hebbal if BJP leadership gives me the ticket. I have been working hard to meet the expectations of people in Hebbal Assembly constituency,’’ said Y A Narayanaswamy.
All in all, BJP candidate will not have any difficulty to represent Hebbal in the Assembly if Congress leaders continue to fight among themselves.
