BENGALURU: Tejasvi Surya is a powerful orator and the national president of the BJP Yuva Morcha. Yet, the sitting Bengaluru South MP hasn’t campaigned elsewhere in Karnataka, as he is facing a really tough fight. However, Surya has campaigned for Annamalai(Coimbatore) and Vinoj Selvam(Chennai Central) in Tamil Nadu.
His challenger is Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy, daughter of state transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, a party heavyweight.
Speculation is rife that hawala cash is flowing like water in this prestigious constituency. When Election Commission officials recently seized Rs 1.4 crore from a car, Sowmya blamed the BJP. Tejaswi Surya (33) promptly lobbed the ball back demanding an impartial probe as his office claimed to have alerted and filed the complaint first. This political potboiler will reach its climax on April 26, when voters will give their verdict.
Ramalinga Reddy represents BTM Layout in the assembly. Sowmya was elected Jayanagara MLA in 2018 by failed to retain it by a whisker in 2023.
Of the eight assembly segments in this Lok Sabha constituency, five are with the BJP and three with the Congress. But that isn’t giving Surya much comfort. Since Karnataka is the home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the party is pulling out all the stops to wrest as many seats as possible, hence the candidature of the Reddy scion. Reddy’s bonhomie with leaders cutting across party lines, including the BJP, and the respect he commands from the common folk is visible. The Congress feels he could go past the party’s traditional vote bank and catch the floating votes to tilt the scales.
Reddy is tapping all channels, including former BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) corporators to get them on his side.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already campaigned extensively in the seat to consolidate the AHINDA votes — acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, too, asked the Vokkaligas to treat Sowmya as his daughter and bless her.
‘Situation is fluid in Bengaluru South’
A major chunk of the Telugu-speaking populace, including the Reddys and Naidus, would favour Sowmya, but the Kannada-speaking Vokkaligas in Bengaluru South are uneasy, observes a resident, Swami Gowda. “A major section of Vokkaligas who migrated from Mandya district to Bengaluru South are with the JDS. They are likely to support Surya, a Brahmin, who is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate,” he opines.
But Suryanarayana, a shopkeeper at Mavalli area, has a different take. “Many voters who claimed to be with the BJP in the past may change their position as the situation is fluid this time around,” he says. This constituency was a BJP citadel for over three decades. It was represented by former Union minister Ananth Kumar in the LS for five terms before his untimely demise in 2018. Ananth Kumar had defeated Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani in 2014.
In 2019, Surya defeated former Rajya Sabha member B K Hariprasad of the Congress by a huge margin of 3.31 lakh votes. The situation, however, has changed. Recently, a Hindu shopkeeper playing Hanuman Chalisa was attacked by some goons. Surya and the BJP tried to draw political mileage out of it but failed. Clearly, he is facing some anti-incumbency.
Recently, at the meeting of a failed Sri Guru Raghavendra Cooperative bank, Surya and his uncle (Basavanagudi MLA L A Ravi Subramanya) were heckled as they were accused of failing to safeguard the interests of depositors. But they turned the tables on the Congress, blaming it for the run on the bank. Surya is banking mainly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma as the opposition INDIA bloc does not have a prime ministerial face. On the other hand, Sowmya chants the five Congress guarantees and depends on her father’s political acumen.
The working class, especially a major chunk of women, are inclined towards the Congress because of the five guarantees. Most of them reside in about 60 slums across the constituency. But the conventional BJP voters and those with JD(S), mostly the Vokkaligas, support Surya. No wonder then, he visited Vokkaliga religious head Sri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji and Lingayat’s Sri Siddalinga Swamiji at Siddaganga Mutt.
“This election is mainly about securing a third term for PM Modi ji - it’s not a local or a state election,” Surya emphasises.