BJP eyes Cong vote bank in Ch'nagar

With the elections to the Lok Sabha just a few weeks away, various political parties in the region are trying their best to woo voters to ensure victory from the Chamarajanagar constituency.

With Congress being considered the favourite from the constituency, the BJP is eyeing the vote-bank of the Congress to change its fortunes. The constituency has been the stronghold of the Congress in the past few decades. While Janata Dal has won from the constituency twice, the JD(S) and the JD(U) have won once.

The constituency consists of eight Assembly segments, including Varuna represented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, H D Kote, T Narsipur, Nanjangud, Hanur, Kollegal, Gundlupet and Chamarajanagar. Save H D Kote, which is represented by JD(S) MLA Chikkamadu, all other constituencies are represented by the Congress.

With the BSR Congress and the KJP rejoining the BJP, the prospects of the BJP has improved in the constituency.

Considering the political developments in the last two weeks, it is clear that both the BJP and the JD(S) are working towards securing more votes in the areas considered strongholds of the Congress.

Even though seven of the eight Assembly constituencies are being represented by Congress MLAs, the party has started intense campaigning, as its candidate R Dhruvanarayan had won by a narrow margin of 4,002 votes in 2009.

Even Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president Dr Parameshwara have campaigned to ensure victory.

In the Assembly polls held in 2013, there were a total of 15,02,694 voters in eight constituencies. Of the votes polled, Congress had secured 4,55,745 votes, which was 30 per cent of the total votes. 

Owing to a division in the BJP, the party could secure only 4.78 per cent of the votes, while KJP fared better and secured 17.54 per cent of the votes. Besides, the JD(S) had polled 13.39 per cent of the votes.