BENGALURU: Though Yeshwantpur assembly constituency was a bastion of BJP till 2008, but Congress’ S T Somashekar managed to get hold of it in 2013 assembly elections, although this time he was not confident of winning.Somashekar was not in the lead till the 15th round and he did not even turn up at the counting centre, fearing losing this time.He reached the counting centre at Maharani College only after getting a message from his supporters informing him that he was leading.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, one of his supporters who was at the counting centre, said, “There were a total of 32 rounds of counting, and in the first 15 rounds, JD(S) was leading. Then, after 15 rounds, when the EVMs from Kengeri, Hemmigepura and Ramohalli booths opened, Somashekar’s vote started increasing and that’s when we called him.”
Somashekar received 1,15,273 votes and T N Javarayi Gowda of JD(S) got 1,04,562 votes, losing with a margin of 10,711. It was a tough fight with the BJP candidate Jaggesh’s candidature splitting the Congress votes. As Jaggesh is a Kannada cine actor, some voted for him and the final rally conducted at Kengeri by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, turned some of Congress votes towards BJP.However, one of the main reasons for Somashekar’s win is the works he has done in his constituency and the connect he has with the local voters.
Even the Vokkaliga votes, which are the highest in the constituency, was a benefit for him.
Although the JD(S) candidate Javarayi Gowda was a Vokkaliga, people chose to vote for Somashekar considering his simplicity and familiarity with the public of this constituency.Somashekar is popular among voters because he is easily approachable and accessible. According to the people from this constituency, he participates in any public function organised by the residents, listens to issues affecting them and tries to resolve them at the earliest.