‘Save Bangalore’ mantra swung votes in capital

‘Save Bangalore’ mantra swung votes in capital
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore/New Delhi: BJP’s strong showing in Bangalore must have come as a shock to Congress; the saffron party has virtually swept the city with 17 out of 28 assembly seats. In 2004, the figure stood at six out of pre-delimitation 16. No wonder the Congress was hopeful of a repeat, mainly on the strength of the “pro-reforms credentials’’ of S M Krishna — an argument that facilitated the former CM’s return to electoral politics.
Of all the contenders for CM’s job, former Maharashtra governor Krishna was considered the most IT-friendly with the added advantage of not having to face accountability for the decline of Bangalore — unlike his successors.
The importance of Bangalore has increased post-delimitation, with the redistricting exercise adding more seats to the city in accordance with its rising numbers.
Karnataka witnessed the first polls after delimitation which has resulted in cities gaining more seats at the cost of countryside.
Urban centres are considered more sensitive to issues of price rise and national security. But with the BJP doing well in rural areas as well, it may be difficult to precisely estimate the role these issues played in tilting the Bangalore scale BJP’s way.
The time was just right for BJP to push the line — Vote BJP, Save Bangalore. After what was perhaps one of Bangalore’s most downswing phases in civic infrastructure, it was only poll-wise to bring the city back on the agenda. “Bangalore results show that the people look to BJP for solutions to the city’s problems,’’ said a senior party leader.
While the party’s poll plank was indeed pegged on betrayal at the hands of its coalition partner, in Bangalore, it was more about reversing the falling standards of civic infrastructure.
While the BJP released a vision statement for the city, the Congress and the rurallypegged JD-S also had the Bangalore makeover as a major poll promise.
HEAD TO HEAD BJP: 17 Congress: 10 JD(S): 1
Bangalore Urban district: BJP gets 6 out of 7 seats
BBMP areas: Out of 21, BJP wins 11 seats
Bangalore Rural: BJP bags 2 seats out of 4 Realty concerns played a role in BJP victory
Bangalore/New Delhi: The expansion of Bangalore and the scope and threats that it brings along featured on top of the agenda for candidates cutting across party lines.
Drains, roads and water have been key issues and no party chose to play a different beat.
Promise of better living standards seems to have worked for BJP beyond the core city areas, as reflected in results in constituencies in the Bangalore Urban district: Six out of seven.
The southern pockets of Bangalore, host to mega real estate activity, generated interest due to the presence of builders and developers in the poll fray. Rising realty, with no infrastructure to match, was an important poll issue in these parts.
In the key south constituencies, BTM layout favoured Congress while Jayanagar,Bommanahalli and Bangalore south were taken by BJP