Bengaluru Lok Sabha Election 2019: Congress is finally gaining pace in Bengaluru as Rizwan Arshad is now leading in Bangalore Central by a margin of just over 25,000 votes. He is up against BJP’s PC Mohan. BJP’s grip on Bengaluru, however, remains strong and they maintain healthy leads in Bangalore South and Bangalore North. BJP workers have, in fact, started celebrating outside the party office in Bengaluru.
Tejasvi Surya has extended his lead in Bangalore South to a margin of almost 80,000 votes, whereas in Bangalore North, DV Sadanand Gowda is leading by a margin over 10,000 votes against Krishna Byre Gowda.
Bengaluru city holds three out of total 28 seats in Karnataka and is featuring several high profile candidates and pitched battles this time around. The three seats in the fray are Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South and an additional Bangalore Rural seat from its outskirts. The fate of the four seats and prominent candidates like PC Mohan, Tejasvi Surya and Prakash Raj will be decided by the end of the day after counting begins at 8am. In Karnataka, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), which is also the government in the state, is up against BJP. Many say the fate of the coalition between Congress and JDS depends on the Lok Sabha polls. A favourable result for BJP in the state could also lead to fall of the state government in Karnataka. Rifts between Congress and JDS workers on the ground remain.
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy also cancelled his scheduled visit to Delhi on Tuesday, where he was expected to take part in a meeting of Opposition leaders over the issue of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
Here are the key developments from Bangalore you need to know as counting progresses:
1) According to the News18 IPSOS exit poll, the BJP is set to win 20-23 seats out of the 28 with a vote share of 54.47% and the UPA will wrest 5-8 seats with 41.85% of the votes. As per News18-IPSOS survey, BJP candidate PC Mohan may emerge as a winner and retain the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha Constituency. BJP candidate Tejasvi Surya is also set to win from the Bangalore South.
2) The coalition government of Congress and JDS is on shaky ground and BJP Karnataka chief B.S. Yedyurappa is eyeing to topple the government. Reportedly, 10 legislators from Congress-JDS camp are ready to jump ship and join BJP. The central command has told Yedyurappa to wait. A favourable Lok Sabha election results will spring BJP in action in the state.
3) On March 9, a day before the model code of conduct kicked in, Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy met PM Modi to ask for release of pending central funds. Kumaraswamy was allegedly told he would get the BJP’s support too if he was willing to resign the same day, and be sworn in as CM in a JD(S)-BJP coalition. The CM was apparently non-committal, saying he needed to consult the party’s president, his father HD Deve Gowda.
4) Bangalore also recorded a very low voter turnout, with three seats seeing less than 50 per cent polling percentage. Bangalore rural recorded 59.43 per cent, Bangalore north 48.19 per cent, Bangalore Central 45.34 per cent and Bangalore south 49.36 per cent. The numbers represent a sharp fall from the 2014 turnout. There have been concerns of several names missing from the voter list.
5) In Bangalore South, BJP’s Tejaswi Surya has been at the centre of attention in the city. The 28-year-old lawyer is the party’s youngest candidate and is contesting against Congress veteran BK Hariprasad. Surya has come under media scrutiny for his aggressive and provocative statements. He is also closely associated to the RSS.
6) Bangalore South seat is a BJP bastion with largely upper class Hindu voters. The seat has been empty since former MP Ananth Kumar died in 2018. Ahead of candidature announcement, there were strong rumours that BJP would give a ticket to Tejaswini Ananth Kumar from the seat, but Surya got the nod eventually.
7) A veteran of the South Indian film industry and widely known for his villainous turns in popular Hindi films like Singham, Wanted and Dabbangg 2, Prakash Raj is contesting 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Bangalore Central seat as an independent. He is locked in a three-way contest with BJP’s sitting MP PC Mohan and Congress’ Rizwan Arshad.
8) Raj, a popular figure who has often spoken against the ruling BJP in the centre, is likely to split the ‘secular vote’ in the constituency. Congress has said the same, implying that Raj’s candidature will in turn benefit the BJP. Raj has maintained his fight will be on local issues of the constituency.
9) In Bangalore North, sitting BJP MP DV Sadananda Gowda is up against Congress’ Krishna Byregwda. In 2014, Gowda had won by a margin of over 2 lakh votes. The BJP has been winning the Bangalore North seat since last three elections.
10) In Bangalore Rural, BJP’s Ashwath Narayangowda is up against Congress’ sitting MP D.K. Suresh, who had won in 2014 by a margin of over 2 lakh votes. Bangalore Rural, which came into being after delimitation of seats in 2008, recorded the highest voter turnout among all Bangalore seats.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)
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