History of casteism clouds Anekal in transition

Billboards on residential projects dot the 12-km road from Chandapura to Anekal. Many of them mention proximity to Electronic City, Bengaluru’s show-piece IT hub located about 17 km from Anekal Town. The reserved constituency of Anekal is also home to villages that practise caste-based discrimination – a problem accepted as prevalent but rarely a part of dominant election narratives.

Dalits who constitute about 60 per cent of Anekal’s voters are also fighting their internal differences. Yashoda P, convenor of Committee for Monitoring and Strengthening SCs/STs in Karnataka, said keeping the Dalit votes scattered has been part of a strategy adopted by all political parties. “Within the SCs, certain groups have been closer to power and this has alienated others,” she said.

By demarcating keris (streets) for caste-based residential settlements, the political system has only validated these differences. “In Anekal, the Dalits are vulnerable against the dominant land-owning castes. Cases of atrocities are not always registered because there is vote-bank politics in play, irrespective of the party in power,” Yashoda said.

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Anekal comprises many areas in a long transition. ‘Luxurious’ villas are advertised amid piles of garbage; earth-movers wait for the action to begin on the construction sites. B Shivanna, the incumbent Congress MLA, is contesting the May 10 Assembly election for a third successive term. The election will be critical for these emerging areas over the next five years.

The constituency comes with a history of political clashes. “That is history now,” claimed Shivanna who sounded confident of a big win. “Winning is about being around even when there are no elections. My work here is for everyone to see,” he said. BJP has fielded Srinivas C. Hullahalli in the constituency which has 4.02 lakh voters.

Long loyalties

A Congress stronghold till the 1980s, Anekal swung the BJP way from the 1990s, till 2013. This period included a 15-year tenure by A Narayanaswamy who is now Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Shivanna ended Narayanaswamy’s run in 2013, trumping him by 40,182 votes. Five years later, Shivanna defeated Narayanaswamy again, at a much lower margin, of 8,627 votes. The 2018 election had a 63.32 per cent voter turnout.

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“There is no strong voter resentment but this could be a close fight. The next five years will see major activity, also contributed by the upcoming Metro line (on Hosur Road), but the infrastructure is far from ready for such development,” Harish, a resident of Bommasandra, said.

In Anekal Town, B.Com student Likhith was excited about his first vote. “Criminal activities in some of the developing areas are a concern,” he said.

Some of the residents felt that the administrators focused "too much" on the “already developed” areas, including Sarjapura and the industrial belts around Attibele and Bommasandra.

K P Raju, the JD(S) candidate, said trends were evolving and the final campaign leg would be crucial. JD(S) did not field a candidate here in 2018.