BENGALURU: With the majority Vokkaliga vote in Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency expected to split be down the middle, the Congress and BJP candidates are not leaving any stone unturned to woo smaller castes and communities. Vokkaligas constitute 36-45% of the population in almost all of the eight assembly constituencies that make up Bangalore Rural. After them, small communities like Thigalas, Gollas, Kumbaras, Kurubas, Besthas, Ganigas, Devanga, Vishwakarma, Bhovis and Lambanis among others will come into play.
It is this block that has caught the eye of the campaign teams of DK Suresh (Congress) and Dr CN Manjunath (BJP-JDS) who are wooing them to turn the tide in their favour.
Both the candidates are working on attracting these small castes and communities in the five rural constituencies -- Kanakapura (2.3 lakh voters), Ramanagara (2.15 lakh), Magadi (2.35 lakh), Kunigal (2 lakh) and Chennapatna (2.27 lakh) -- and in the three urban constituencies.
There are also about 15-20% SC Right and Left communities in these constituencies, including Bhovis and Lambanis, who also form part of the SC vote.
Muslims form the third largest chunk in the rural and urban constituencies. While the community population is a mere 6.4% in Magadi, it swells up to 16.24% in Ramanagara. Veerashaiva-Lingayats, a formidable force in North Karnataka, do not account for much in the south of the sate, especially in Bangalore Rural where they account for 6.1% in Magadi and a mere 2.86% in Ramanagara, 2.43% in Kanakapura and 1% in Channapatna.
The Thigalas account for 4-5% uniformly in all the five rural constituencies and are in negligible numbers in other constituencies. The three urban segments of Bangalore South assembly constituency has 6.3 lakh voters where Brahmins account for about 12% of the vote share, while RR Nagar has 4.6 lakh voters with Brahmins accounting for 7.9%.
Anekal, which has 3.75 lakh voters, there are 8.75% Reddys and in Bangalore South, its 3.3%. The voter composition in these constituencies are Kurubas, Devangas, Vishwakarmas, Madivalas, Arya Vaishyas and others who are spread out across all the eight constituencies. There are many microscopic groups like Christians too.
With the fight expected to be neck-and-neck every small caste counts and Suresh’s and Manjunath’s poll managers are making every effort to woo the caste leaders.