BENGALURU: Actor-politician Ramya who has managed to create ripples after she took over the Congress social media team,may star in a big role in the high-voltage Assembly election next year with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah aiming for ‘Mission 120’. The Chief Minister and the state Congress are keen to turn the tide in the urban pockets by stopping BJP’s dominance in Bengaluru and improving its own tally from 13 to 20 of the 28 Assembly seats. Siddaramaiah, who has been heading the party from the front in the run-up to the 2018 polls, has started the ground work from Bengaluru, identifying BJP’s strongholds that could be a bottleneck for Congress. Although Ramya rented a house in Mandya city indicating that she may contest from Mandya assembly constituency, Congress plans to field her from Basavanagudi constituency, a traditional BJP bastion.
The Chief Minister has said he has an open mind to fielding her from the city. The party feels that fielding Ramya will add charisma to its campaign and boost the morale of its workers while also improving its prospects in the city. She may also be deployed to campaign in a few more BJP-dominated constituencies in Bengaluru. Sources said the party is also thinking of fielding former Mayor Padmavathi from Rajajinagar hoping that her performance as mayor will give her an edge in the polls. Congress also plans to field young Congress leader Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, f r o m Jayanagar. P u b l i c Works Minister H C Mahadevappa may contest from C V Raman Nagar in Bengaluru as his son Sunil Bose has sought ticket from T Narasipur (SC) constituency in Mysuru district. Though there are other leaders like Ruman Baig, son of Minister Roshan Baig, and others seeking party tickets, the high command wants to go with winnable changes based on the candidates of rival parties.
The BJP, which has three MPs in Bengaluru city including Union Ministers H N Ananth Kumar and D V Sadananda Gowda, and 101 corporators in the 198-member Bruhath Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Council, is also eyeing 20 of the 28 Assembly seats in Bengaluru City. But the Congress may be at an advantage as JD(S) rebel MLAs Zameer Ahmad Khan from Chamarajpet and Akhanda Srinivasamurthy from Pulakeshinagar will contest as its candidates. The party has also started looking for prospective candidates in BJP pockets and is likely to announce a majority of the candidates in first list for 125 seats to be announced any time before March-end.
Housing, Akrama-Sakrama gives a fillip
Congress plans to highlight the various schemes of the Siddaramaiah government like the plan to provide one lakh houses for urban poor in Bengaluru, Akrama- Sakrama scheme, the Karnataka land Reforms Amendment Bill which provides for giving farm labourers rights over houses built on government land, the `6,000 crore worth of development works announced for the development of Bengaluru city, extending kerosene supply to the urban poor with LPG connections, etc., during the campaign. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress has started its preparations and is looking for bright candidates. He said that his government has shown its commitment to clear rajakaluves, developing Bengaluru with better infrastructure and will announce more programmes with focus on urban areas over the next five years .
