The Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha Constituency, formed after boundary changes, is home to various groups like linguistic minorities, Dalits, Backward Classes, and Mati minorities. It has a mix of formal and informal sector workers, IT workers, and street vendors. Despite this mix, the BJP has been consistent in grabbing the seat, even though there are many Congress MLAs in the area’s assembly seats.

BJP’s Candidature

PC Mohan, representing the BJP, is running for re-election for the third time. He’s known for getting things done in the constituency and has been focusing on railway projects. But this time, he is facing strong competition in the form of  Mansoor Ali Khan, a Youth Congress leader with a big following. PC Mohan is aiming for his fourth term, but it won’t be easy with Mansoor Ali Khan in the race.

Source: Wikipedia

Area’s Demographics

Source: Proneta

In this area, there are big IT companies and fancy hotels, but also lots of regular people facing everyday problems like bad roads and traffic jams. Because there hasn’t been a local Municipality for a while, now the MPs have to deal with these issues. Things like blocked canals, dirty lakes, and floods are big topics in the election. The MPs blame the Congress government, while the Congress blames the old BJP government. So, it’s tough for both parties’ candidates in this election.

Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency has a total of 23 lakh voters which includes 11.50 lakh male and 10.58 lakh female voters. Muslim, Christian, Dalit, and backward-class voters are in large numbers in this constituency.

According to some statistics, the category-wise representation is 6 lakh Muslims, 5 lakh Christians, 5 lakh Dalits, and about 6 lakh people belonging to backward classes like Balijiga, Golla, Kuruba, Tigala, Vishwakarma, Madiwala, Kamma, etc. It is said that there are a large number of Tamil speakers in Shivajinagar, Halasur, Seshadripur, and Gandhinagar.

The constituencies of Shivajinagar, Sarvajnanagar, Chamarajpet, Shantinagar, and Gandhinagar Congress assembly constituencies are strongholds of the Congress. Similarly Mahadevpur and C.V. Raman Nagar, Rajajinagar is a stronghold of BJP.

Looking around the area, it seems like the Congress should win easily, but they often don’t. Even though most people here prefer the Congress, the BJP has surprised everyone by winning the last three elections.

Congress Vs BJP

Once again, the BJP candidate is feeling confident, thanks to support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and issues like building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

But the Congress candidate has a different plan. With the state government being led by Congress, many people have benefited from their policies and trust them to do well. Plus, minority groups and middle-class families tend to support Congress, even though they’re worried about things like the high cost of living and local issues that aren’t getting enough attention from their MPs.

While most of the area seems to be on the side of Congress, getting everyone to vote for them is a big challenge.

In the first election of this constituency, Sangliana from Congress and Zameer Ahmed Khan from JDS competed, with Khan receiving over two lakh votes. However, the BJP candidate won by 35 thousand votes more than the Congress candidate. Similarly, in the 2014 and 2019 elections, Rizwan Arshad of Congress faced tough competition from BJP, while JD(S) and AAP also got significant votes.

The current election is a direct battle between Congress and BJP, with ministers Jameer Ahmed Khan, KJ George, and Dinesh Gundurao strongly supporting their candidates. BDA President and Shantinagar MLA Haris Mai Chali Chitti also backs Congress, which could change the election outcome.

Read Also:

Mansoor Khan Ready To Hit Boundaries Of Change For The People Of Bengaluru Central