BENGALURU: The prestigious constituency of Bangalore Central, an urban general segment, is witnessing a fight between PC Mohan, the incumbent BJP MP, and Congress’ Mansoor Ali Khan. While Mohan is aiming for a fourth consecutive win, Khan is banking on the State Government’s guarantee schemes to emerge victorious.
The constituency spans from Mahadevapura in the east to Rajajinagar in the west.
Mohan won with a lead of over 70,000 votes in a triangular fight in the 2019 General Elections beating Congress’ Rizwan Arshad and actor Prakash Raj, who contested as an independent. Of the eight Assembly constituencies in Bangalore Central, the Congress won in five constituencies, except CV Ramanagar, Rajajinagar, and Mahadevapura, which should work in Khan’s favour.
However, the disunity among the Congress leaders was evident when Khan filed his nomination, as several party leaders gave the event a miss, except for Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad. Congress sources maintained that they are unhappy with the party fielding a new face. Also, Shantinagar MLA NA Haris was hoping to get a ticket for his son Mohammed Haris Nalapad, sources added.
Both Mohan and Khan are doing roadshows, going on morning walks to parks, talking to vendors on the streets, meeting apartment dwellers, and resident welfare associations, and visiting places of worship to ask for votes in their favour in the constituency.
The constituency is diverse, with a large population of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, and is also home to a significant population of Tamils and other languages.
On one side, Mohan is sharing that he has been at the forefront of implementing transformative initiatives of Bengaluru in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visions and advocating projects like Namma Metro and the Sub Urban Rail, batting for better amenities at railway stations and highways, measures towards building modern Bengaluru with electric buses, skywalks, and flyovers to ease congestion.
Khan is telling the voters that the Congress gave five guarantees during last year’s Assembly elections, and they were all fulfilled after coming to power, and in the same manner, he would strive to make Bengaluru a sustainable city through eco-friendly practices. He also promises that he will be able to solve the water woes in the city if he is voted to power.
Meanwhile, drinking water and sanitation continue to be major problems in this urban segment. “We come under the Chamarajpet Assembly constituency, which is part of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha segment. Neither MLA Zameer nor MP Mohan have bothered to put an end to these problems,” said Shiva, a resident of Anjanappa Garden. He said that many youth are jobless and that measures should be taken to provide them employment. Voters also complained about the poor public infrastructure in the constituency and want it improved, along with measures to curb the traffic menace in the constituency.