BENGALURU: Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, a byelection to the Bengaluru teachers’ constituency on February 16 to elect a member of the Legislative Council has turned into a litmus test for the BJP-JDS combine and a referendum of sorts to the Congress government. Senior leader and former deputy chairman of the Council Puttanna had won the seat four times -- thrice as a JDS candidate and once as a BJP pick.
He quit as BJP MLC on March 16 last year and the seat was vacant since then. He contested the Assembly elections on a Congress ticket from Rajajinagar constituency, but lost to BJP senior leader and former minister S Suresh Kumar.
Puttanna is now seeking a reelection from the teachers’ constituency as a Congress candidate. His record in this seat is formidable as he was in close touch with graduates and teachers of the constituency. He will face the BJP-JDS candidate AP Ranganatha, who is JDS general secretary, in the by-election.
Both Puttanna and Ranganatha filed their nomination papers on Monday. But Puttanna is strong enough to face the alliance as he has networked strongly with the electorate and has responded to their issues as an MLC, a political analyst observed.
For the alliance partners, winning this seat is crucial as it will reveal their coordination and efforts ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. In fact, the alliance seems to have an edge as 11,750 voters out of the total 15,977 are from urban areas residing within BBMP limits.
Interestingly, female voters are nearly double of their male counterparts. The teachers’ constituency covers four LS seats of Bengaluru Rural, North, South and Central. The winner will enjoy the MLC term till November 11, 2026.