In the wake of the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress Party has finalized the candidates for Bengaluru North, South, and Central Constituencies. These three become the key constituencies for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections from the point of view of Karnataka as Bengaluru stands as one of the major metropolitan cities for any political party. But who are the candidates?
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It has been confirmed by the sources that Prof MV Rajeev Gowda has been finalized for Bengaluru North, Sowmya Reddy for Bengaluru South, and Mansoor Ali Khan from Bengaluru Central. Mr Gowda emerged as a primary contestant from Congress for Bengaluru North considering his clean record and meritorious background also as the previous MP candidate Krishna Byre Gowda serves as a ruling minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet. He will be contesting against BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje.
Mr Gowda is a former Rajya Sabha member and was appointed the vice chairperson with cabinet rank of the State Institute For The Transformation of Karnataka (SITK). Earlier he was Chairperson, of the Centre for Public Policy and Professor of Economics and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore. He has served as a Director on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He has an MA in Economics from Fordham University and a PhD in Public Policy and Management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma. While Congress is hopeful about his candidature, Bengaluru North deserves a likely candidate who belongs to the region and understands the region well.
Moving to South Bengaluru, Sowmya Reddy has been finalized for the same against BJP leader Tejasvi Surya. It is peculiar to note that Bangalore South, which the BJP has held as its bastion since 1991 has seen major upheavals like the previous one in the Assembly elections of 2023 when Sowmya at the Jayanagar Constituency by almost 16 votes. According to sources, Reddy was asked to attend the Congress’ screening committee meeting a few days ago.
AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, and other committee members sought her father, Ramalinga Reddy’s opinion on fielding Sowmya. Apparently, the Congress’ internal survey also favored Sowmya for the ticket.
Mansoor Ali Khan, a popular Congress leader, has been finalized for Bengaluru Central. He has been a key member of the AICC and played a major role for the Congress in the Telangana Elections. He has been pitted against PC Mohan who has been a long-serving leader in this constituency. Sources reveal that he has been given the opportunity after much deliberation.
It is believed that the final list also has leaders like L Hanumanthayya who has been finalized from Kolar, Jayaprakash Hegde from Udupi, Anjali Nimbalkar from U Kannada and Chandrappa from Chitradurga.
