Spread over either side of the national highway that links the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the Byatarayanapura Assembly constituency has tech parks, large residential pockets, semi-urban and rural areas close to the airport, and a good number of lakes.
After representing the constituency for three straight terms, former Minister Krishna Byre Gowda from the Congress is again seeking the mandate of voters.
In the previous elections, Mr. Byre Gowda defeated the nearest contender from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) A. Ravi by 5,671 votes. However, he defeated Mr. Ravi in the 2013 elections by a massive margin of 32,299 votes. The drop in margin had rekindled hopes in the BJP that there have a better chance to win the constituency that has remained a stronghold of the Congress.
Multiple aspirants
There were multiple aspirants to get the BJP ticket and Mr. Ravi, who hoped for a chance again, was ditched by the party. Another strong contender, K. Munidra Kumar, a former councillor, too was denied the ticket. The BJP finally fielded H.C. Thammesh Gowda.
The Janata Dal (Secular), which have a history of changing the candidates, has fielded Nagaraj P.
Residents of the constituency say that much before the announcement of the election dates, Mr. Byre Gowda tried every possible way to reach out to the voters.
Raviprasad, a resident of Sahakarnagar, said, “In the last three elections, the voters favoured the Congress here, but the margin drastically dropped in 2018. It appears that Mr. Byre Gowda does not want to take any chances and has been actively involved in various programmes to connect with voters, especially the younger generation. Conducting the Udyoga Mela, cultural and sports events were almost a routine affair. The MLA is heavily banking on his work on rejuvenation of lakes in his constituency and resident welfare measures. Meanwhile, ticket aspirants from the BJP too were busy with various programmes to woo the voters, including conducting religious programmes.”
Asked about the ongoing campaign, Mr. Byre Gowda said, “Last time, there was a trend against the Congress across the State which reduced our tally from 122 to 80 seats. Hence, my margin of victory also came down. But this time, the current is decidedly against the BJP and they will see their votes decrease even in Byatarayanapura. Issues of corruption, price rise, and an unstable government are all playing on the minds of the people. In the last four years, I have spent more time on the ground connecting with people and that will put me in good stead this time.”
Targeting Mr. Byre Gowda, Mr. Thammesh Gowda said, “It is very unfortunate that despite representing the constituency for three consecutive times and becoming a Cabinet Minister, the MLA failed to provide good drinking water facilities in various parts of the constituency and the constituency does not have government-run higher education colleges and super-speciality hospitals run by the government. In Kuvempunagar, Thanisandra, and many other areas, residents are not getting drinking water supply on a regular basis. People are looking for a change.”
When asked about his candidature, he said, “There is no difference of opinion. All have extended cooperation to me and we are fighting together against the opponent parties. I am sure after 15 years, the voters will look for a change”.
Responding to criticism by the BJP that there is no tertiary care government hospital and no first-grade college in the constituency, Mr. Byre Gowda said recently, he had got four government high schools and three PU colleges, and the next step would be to get a first-grade college.
“Usually, government hospitals are established at the zonal or taluk level and not at the constituency level. I will work to bring a multi-speciality hospital to serve North Bengaluru, which is much needed here,” he said, adding many constituencies continuously represented by the BJP also do not have government hospitals or first-grade colleges.
Mr. Byre Gowda is also vocal about the BJP government not completing the expansion of the Hebbal flyover that was sanctioned when the Congress was in power. The junction that connects CBD areas with the airport, remains one of the major traffic bottlenecks of the city.
