Lacklustre challengers clear BJP’s path in Padmanabhanagar

Despite being a BJP stronghold, Padmanabhanagar seems to lack strong contenders from opposing political parties.

While the saffron party has once again fielded its incumbent strongman, R Ashoka, for the fourth time from this constituency, the Congress has nominated V Raghunatha Naidu and JD(S) Manjunath.

Ashoka had earlier won the Uttarahalli constituency three times until Padmanabhanagar was made a separate constituency in 2008. This would mean Ashoka will be contesting his seventh consecutive election.

Also Read | Congress may field D K Suresh against Ashoka

“A few residents here want to see a change and give an opportunity to others, but the candidates are not reaching out to us,” said Krishna, a Hosakerehalli resident.

Despite rumours that D K Suresh may contest from the Congress, the plan did not happen, giving the BJP a chance to extend their winning streak here.

The saffron party has also fielded Ashoka from Kanakapura against KPCC President D K Shivakumar, virtually making sure that he will not spend much time in Padmanabhanagar. BJP sources said his absence will not impact the result.

Though several residents say other candidates are lesser known, Congress’ Raghunatha Naidu said he has been working closely with people here for more than two years and is aware of their problems.

“I am travelling across the constituency, and I am sure people will vote for change this time,” Manjunath said.

While the constituency can boast of having decent basic infrastructure, residents said it is still beset by problems such as flooding, inadequate streetlights and poor traffic management. “Traffic needs to be streamlined and we want to create zero traffic zones. I will work towards it,” Naidu said.

Manjunath believed that the incumbent had not fulfilled his duty to protect and provide basic facilities to the slum dwellers. “There are slum dwellers who do not have houses to live in,” he said.

Last year’s heavy rains flooded two to three wards in the constituency. “In the entire South Bengaluru, Padmanabhanagar has one of the highest numbers of stormwater drain encroachments. To add to this, a few lakes are also encroached upon, and flooding is the direct result of such illegal activities,” said a resident of the Ganesha Mandir ward.