Will Congress break the dominance of the BJP this time?

Bengaluru: The Bangalore Central constituency comprises both urban and rural areas and is the Vidhan Sabha constituency with the largest number of voters in the state.

Energy Minister KJ George (Congress) for Sarvajna Nagar assembly constituency, S Raghu (BJP) for CV Raman Nagar constituency, Rizwan Arshad (Congress) for Shivajinagar constituency, NA Harris (Congress) for Shantinagar constituency, Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao (Congress) for Gandhinagar constituency.

Rajajinagar constituency is represented by S Suresh Kumar (BJP), Chamarajpet constituency is represented by Minority Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan (Congress) and Mahadevpur constituency is represented by Manjula Aravind Limbavali (BJP).

In Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency, where there are many linguistic and religious minorities, their support is necessary for any candidate to win. The total polling booths here are 2,125. Among the four Lok Sabha constituencies in the capital city of Bengaluru, Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency is one of the most interesting constituencies.

In 2008, Bangalore Central was formed out of Bangalore North and Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituencies during the re-allocation of constituencies. In 2009, for the first time in this Lok Sabha constituency, BJP candidate PC Mohan won against Congress candidate HT Sangliana. After that, he won a hat-trick of victories against Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad in 2014 and 2019 elections.

Before entering the arena of Lok Sabha elections, PC Mohan had entered the Legislative Assembly as a BJP candidate from Chickpet Assembly Constituency in 1999 and 2004. However, PC Mohan, who contested from Gandhinagar assembly constituency in 2008 and 2013, lost to Congress candidate Dinesh Gundurao twice in a row.

The International Tech Park, which has earned Bangalore the reputation of the Silicon Valley of India, falls under this sector. There are more than 2,000 information technology and biotechnology companies in the Mahadevpur assembly constituency here. Also, HAL Airport, HAL Factory, DRDO Research Centre are here.

BJP and JD(S) parties have formed an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections, and PC Mohan, who has already won three times in a row, has been tested for the fourth time. The name of Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajiv Chandrasekhar were also heard from this constituency. But once again PC Mohan succeeded in getting the ticket.

There is an allegation that the sitting MP PC Mohan is working under the shadow of the local BJP MLA. Being limited to only party meetings and functions, it can be said that he is lagging behind in increasing his charisma personally in the constituency. There is also an allegation that MP's regional development fund is used only in selected constituencies.

Apart from this, there are many other issues under the purview of this sector including negligence in the development of Bellandur Lake, lack of infrastructure, delay in the expansion of the metro rail line, which has got the attention of the entire country and is a target of the National Green Tribunal.

This time the Congress party is aiming to capture this constituency for the first time. AICC Secretary Mansoor Ali Khan is the candidate from the Congress party. He is the son of former Union Minister and former Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker K Rehman Khan.

Although PC Mohan has been an MP for three consecutive terms, his own party has been in power at the center for two of those terms but has not developed much in the constituency and has not developed any political influence. Whatever they have, Modi's charisma, BJP's organizational strength and caste strength are winning politics.

This time, the Congress has decided to win by making proper use of the codification of Ahinda votes in the constituency, five Congress MLAs and the presence of Congress in the state.

Mansoor Khan is the only Muslim candidate among the Congress candidates announced in the state so far. There is no possibility of Muslims getting representation in other constituencies too. So it is politically very important for the Congress to win the only Muslim candidate who has given a ticket.

Assembly constituencies

Sarvajnanagar, CV Raman Nagar, Shivajinagar, Shantinagar, Gandhinagar, Rajajinagar, Chamarajpet, Mahadevpura Among these assembly constituencies, Mahadevpura Assembly Constituency has the largest area geographically.