Bangalore, Apr 16 (PTI) Karnataka will go to the polls
tomorrow in a single phase with the battlelines clearly
delineated for a bipolar contest between the ruling Congress
and BJP in all but six of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Both principal players see tidings in their favour.After
a heartbreak defeat in the May Assembly polls last year, BJP
is gung ho about a comeback, while the Congress is portraying
a picture of confidence of bagging 20 seats.
Some 85,000 security personnel, including the central
forces, will provide security cover across the state with
54,294 polling booths, 8,658 of which are identified as hyper
sensitive and 14,400 as sensitive.
In the 2009 polls, BJP then holding the reins of power
had pulled off a stellar performance winning 19 seats, leaving
six to Congress and three to JDS led by former Prime Minister
H D Deve Gowda.
It is a reversal of this trend Congress is targeting to
maximise gains, when a total of 4.62 crore voters are expected
to make their choice from among 435 candidates.
Congress is hoping to replicate its Assembly performance
when it swept to power winning 122 of the 224 seats,
dethroning the first-ever BJP government in the South. Pushed
to the third place, BJP is looking for a turnaround in its
fortunes.
The fight between Congress and BJP is direct in at least
22 constituencies with many imponderables and triangular in
the rest where the JDS is in the reckoning.
Among the battles, the most keenly watched is Bangalore
South constituency where Nandan Nilekani, face of UPA's
marquee programme Aadhar and billionaire co-founder of Infosys
is fighting BJP's formidable opponent Ananth Kumar, a
five-time MP.
Nilekani with his and wife's declared wealth of Rs 7,700
crore is the richest among the candidates who have entered the
fray so far in the country.
Politically highly conscious, middle and lower middle
class dominated Bangalore South has never been receptive to
Congress since the late 1970s, barring once in 1989.
The spotlight is also on former Chief Minister B S
Yeddyurappa, who is seeking to enter Parliament in his second
bid after failing in the first, from Shimoga where is he is
facing Githa Shivarajkumar, daughter of former Chief Minister
S Bangarappa.
Other keenly watched contests are Gowda (Hassan), Union
Minister M Veerappa Moily (Chikkaballapur), H D Kumaraswamy
(Chikkaballapur), N Dharam Singh (Bidar) and D V Sadananda
Gowda (Bangalore North), all former Chief Ministers.
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also seeking
to gain a toehold, fielding candidates for all constituencies,
the prominent being former Infosys Director Balakrishnan who
is in the fray from Bangalore Central.
Chief Minister Siddarmaiah is playing for high stakes as
the outcome could have a bearing on his political standing
within the party with a good show being a deterrent against
any move to threaten his seat. He has borne the brunt of
campaign burden criss-crossing the state.
BJP expects that the return of Yeddyurappa would bring
significant gains as he could consolidate the votes of
Lingayats, numerically No 1 community. Despite opposition by
BJP senior leader Sushma Swaraj, B Sriramulu was also brought
into the party, which hopes for incremental electoral value
with his influence in Valmiki community.
The party is also heavily banking on the Modi factor to
tilt the scales in its favour, particularly among young
voters. Seeing a fertile electoral ground in Karnataka, Modi
campaigned vigorously addressing 10 rallies seeking to give a
cutting edge to the party.
Congress, on one hand, believes people have still not
forgotten or forgiven BJP for its "misdeeds" and would make it
pay in the Lok Sabha polls too. On the other, it is touting
its welfare schemes like rice for Re 1 a kg for the poor.
It has broadly been a steady rise for BJP in Karnataka,
the ground for which was laid in 1991 when it won four Lok
Sabha seats with a dramatic ascent to 18 in 2004 and to 19 in
2009. PTI RA
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