JOIN USMarking his seventh consecutive victory in this year's elections, senior Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy has emerged as the senior-most Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA).
It was a clash between two Reddys in the constituency as senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader G Janardhana Reddy’s nephew, Lallesh Reddy was contesting from the BTM Layout seat against Ramalinga Reddy.
This time, although Ramalinga Reddy won with 67,085 votes, Lallesh Reddy, who is contesting for the first time, bagged an impressive 46,607 votes.
During the 2013 Assembly polls, Ramalinga Reddy had won with a huge margin of 49,607 votes against N Sudhakar of the BJP.
This is the third consecutive victory for Ramalinga Reddy from the BTM Layout seat. Ramalinga Reddy was contesting from the Jayanagar constituency until delimitation of constituencies in 2008. Post-delimitation, Ramalinga Reddy chose the BTM Layout constituency.
After he won 2013 elections, he had held the post of Transport Minister. In 2017, after the reshuffle, he was made the Home Minister.
One of the factors that could have worked in favour of Lallesh Reddy were 2017 heavy floods, which left Koramangala residents in great distress, with most of the houses waterlogged almost every time it rained from August to October. The voters may have opted for a new MLA this time. However, the numbers do not reflect this mood.
This time, Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Soumya Reddy was also in the fray from the Jayanagar constituency. However, the election to this constituency has been cancelled due to the death of BJP candidate B N Vijay Kumar.