Bengaluru: There is a stiff competition between two Congress leaders — former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Rahman Khan and Minister for Transport Ramalinga Reddy — to get the ticket for their children to contest from Jayanagar to the State Assembly in 2018.
While Ramalinga Reddy has been lobbying to get the ticket for his daughter Sowmya Reddy for Jayanagar seat, Rahman Khan is also trying his best to convince Congress leaders to select his son as Congress candidate for Jayanagar.
According to the voters, Ramalinga Reddy is the only leader who not only has a hold on this constituency but also the much needed resources to ensure his daughter’s win in the next Assembly elections from Jayanagar.
“Ramalinga Reddy is not new to the voters in Jayanagar assembly segment. He got elected to the Assembly four times from Jayanagar. He defeated the present incumbent MLA from Jayanagar in 1999 and 2004. Earlier, he defeated BJP candidate K.N. Subba Reddy in 1994 and M Chandrasekhar of Janata Dal in 1989. He has more followers and supporters in Jayanagar assembly segment,” said Prahallada Rao of Jayanagar.
It may be recalled that Reddy got defeated by M Chandrasekhar with a huge majority of 12,549 votes in 1985. Reddy polled only 29,842 votes as against 42,391 votes polled by Chandrasekhar.
Many voters are of the opinion that Congress failed miserably to field potential candidates in 2008 and 2013. Congress party’s inability has helped BJP candidate B.N. Vijayakumar to romp home in 2008 and 2013. Interestingly, Vijayakumar has polled almost the same number of votes in both the elections. He polled 43,164 votes in 2008 and 43,990 votes in 2013.
“Vijayakumar is familiar with the voters in this constituency. He has been in active politics since 1999. The other advantage for Vijayakumar is that there are no corruption charges against him. He is known for simplicity and humility,” opines Satyanarayana Rao of JP Nagar.
Meanwhile, one cannot ignore the presence of Janata Dal (Secular) cadre in Jayanagar constituency since it has a number of Muslim voters. JD(S) candidate K.S. Sameeulla got 12,097 votes in the election held in 2013.
As far as the representation of corporators in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council is concerned, the BJP has an upper hand with six of its corporators representing wards such as Pattabhirama Nagar, Byrasandra, Jayanagar West, JP Nagar, Sarakki and Shakambari Nagar while Congress managed to win from only one ward – Gurappana Palya – among the seven wards in this constituency.
There are 1,87,491 voters in Jayanagar assembly segment. Among them, 95,572 are male voters while 91,894 are women voters. There are 25 other votes in this constituency.
“Though BJP won majority of wards in Jayanagar assembly constituency, it will be tough for Vijayakumar to retain the seat in 2018 if Ramalinga Reddy manages to get Congress ticket for his daughter. It is not that present incumbent has not taken up developmental works in Jayanagar assembly segment. He has taken up many developmental works but money and other factors are set to play a key role during the elections,’’ says a resident of Byrasandra on a condition of anonymity.
If Congress fails to field either Rahaman Khan’s son or Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter, nothing can stop the present incumbent B.N. Vijayakumar to achieve a hat-trick by romping home in April/May 2018.
