Bengaluru: The “cosmopolitan” Assembly constituency Shantinagar, spread out in the heart of capital Bengaluru, has a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP. Congress MLA N. A. Harris, who has achieved a hat-trick, is in the urge to win for the 4th time, but despite consecutive defeats, the BJP is putting up a strong fight here.
This time, BJP candidate Shivkumar is hoping that the voters will hold his hand and he will get elected from the constituency. Retired KAS Officer Mathai from Aam Aadmi Party is also making some noise in the constituency as he was known as a honest officer who raises his voice against corruption in the department and by politicians. However, they are also convinced that the noise is not enough to take them to the shores of victory. The JD (S) candidate seems to be limited to the contest. Th There are 10 other candidates in the fray including other parties and independent in candidates. Minority communities such as Muslims and Christians are in large numbers in the constituency.
N. A. Harris of Congress has won consecutively since 2008. His opponent has changed three times. D. U. Mallikarjuna from BJP in 2008, D. Venkatesh Murthy in 2013 and K. Vasudeva Murthy in 2018.
This time K. Shivkumar is the rival from the BJP. Christian leaders had appealed to the former Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa that this time BJP should give tickets to the Christian community. However, the ticket was not given. Meanwhile, K. Mathai, who belongs to the Christian community, has entered the contest from the Aam Aadmi Party, hoping that the Christians will lean towards him. However, no such support is visible. Locals say that the political decision of the Christian community is mixed.
Being an old and prestigious area, Shantinagar has major commercial areas including Brigade Road, M. G. Road. Otherwise, it is also a very crowdedn constituency. Various speakers including Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam are settled here. The most important weapon for N. A. Harris is the development in the constituency, and because of the majority of minorities, he has also relied on the votes of that community.
Personal charisma is important for BJP candidate K. Shivkumar along with the party. As a BBMP Corporator, he is competing by promoting the development work done in the field. He is the brother of last time’s defeated candidate K. Vasudeva Murthy. K. Shivkumar, who belongs to the Balaja community, relied on the OBC votes along with the BJP’s traditional votes. There are 8,000 Lingayat voters in the constituency and Shivkumar is confident that he will get these votes.