Archives for May 2018

G.T. Deve Gowda is a prominent Vokkaliga leader in Mysuru district and a loyal supporter of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Janata Dal (Secular) State President H.D. Kumaraswamy. He is known as a grassroots politician who worked his way up the ladder and represented Hunsur and Chamundeshwari candidates as a nominee of the JD(S). He is confident that he will emerge as a “giant killer” in the polls, due to the prevailing anger against the Siddaramaiah government.

The Chamundeshwari constituency is the battle ground for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and H.D. Kumaraswamy, where Mr. Gowda is the central pivot. He says that the people of the constituency are disappointed with the CM since he had neglected it for the past 10 years, and now, makes half-baked promises of development during the elections. He thinks that Chamundeshwari was the factor which propelled Mr. Siddaramaiah from being an ordinary MLA to becoming the CM. In spite of this, the CM has not done anything for the people of Chamundehswari.

He attributed his grassroots cooperative activism to keeping in touch with the interest of the masses, by touring the constituencies and cultivating the confidence of the voters. Mr. Siddaramaiah, he felt in contrast, was aloof and detached in his campaigns. Mr. Gowda opines that his personal appeal will transcend boundaries of caste in the polarised place that is Chamundeshwari.

The constituency has 2.9 lakh voters, a third of whom are urbane citizens. Though it is difficult to predict the victory in the segment, there is a shared opinion that its outcome will decide which party comes to power in the State.

PTI

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday documented a First Information Report (FIR) on discovering counterfoils and 9,746 voters ID cards in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said on late Tuesday night “An FIR is being enrolled after almost 9,746 voter cards were found in a flat in Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency alongside around one lakh counterfoils looking like acknowledgment slips utilized for expansion of names into electoral rolls were discovered,”

On investigation, the voter cards were observed to be genuine, while the counterfoils were to be checked through examination, Kumar said. Five workstations and one printer were additionally found in the loft, he included.

“Further investigation will be directed into the issue and will be nearly checked by the EC,” he said.

Three eyewitnesses from the poll pane visiting the flat in the constituency, which has a total of 4,35,439 voters, Kumar said.

Alongside Kumar, the District Election Officer and the city’s municipal body Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao, the city Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar had visited the area where the voter cards were found.

The representative of the Congress party Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that the flat where the voter IDs were discovered had a place with a BJP leader.

“BJP instituted this show in a flat having a place with their own leader Manjula Nanjamari. She has leased the flat to her son who challenged the 2015 BBMP (Bengaluru urban body) elections on a BJP ticket. The flat was raided not by police or EC but rather by BJP workers,” Surjewala affirmed.

Union Human Resource Development Minister and the gathering’s in-control for state surveys Prakash Javadekar said in a tweet “The BJP requests rescinding of elections in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in light of most recent disclosures of a huge number of fake voter IDs and discharge parcels of hard cash. This is Congress intrigue to fix decision even with their unavoidable annihilation,”

PTI

With only two days have been left for canvassing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address four rallies in Bangarpet, Chikkaamagaluru, Belagavi and Bidar on Wednesday (May 09).

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will hold meetings in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, BJP has demanded to countermand of elections in Raj Rajeshwari Nagar constituency following the recovery of tens of thousands voters identity cards and empty packers of hard currency from a house.

On Tuesday, 9,746 voter identity cards were found in bundles in an apartment yesterday in Bengaluru.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

There may not be an action replay in one urban constituency in this district, Narasimharaja. Electing one Muslim family five years ago and nine times earlier it may not go for it this year.

Moving fast backward, it may opt for another Muslim candidate who was a runner-up in the previous poll. Abdul Majeed was defeated in 2013 by only 9,000 votes.

Mainly because of it, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which is the political wing of the Kerala-based Popular Front of India, has fielded him again.

It is not the only bad news for the Sait family which has won the seat ten times — six times by Azeez Sait and four times by his son, Tanveer. The family has hit the headlines for attack by its supporter on a media person.

Correspondent of a national English daily has filed a police complaint saying that he was manhandled by his suppoters in the city when he was collecting some information.

The family has apologised but the case has not been withdrawn. An inquiry, therefore, is being made. Further action will be taken in the light of inquiry report.

Some journalist bodies have now joined the fight.

There has been one more complaint to the police. The complainant in the second case is the Congress, the party Sait belongs to. The party has complained against the SDPI candidate, Mazeed, for pinning state chief minister Siddaramaiah picture on his lapel and allegedly telling the people that he has got his “blessings”.

Since this action can confuse Congress supporters the party has lodged a complaint against him.

The constituency has been a Congress bastion. The BJP has won it only once in 1994, that too with a small margin. The other major contestant here is JDS.

Interestingly, the Samajwadi Party, which has parted company with the Congress as well as the Bahujan Samaj Party, in Karnataka, has fielded 31 candidates in the state including one in this constituency. It is not a major force in the southern region.

It is the second party, after the BJP, which has put up a Hindu candidate in this Muslim-dominated constituency.

A member of the family, Azeez Sait, was first elected from this seat in 1967. He was re-elected in next poll. Azeez bagged the seat four more times, representing the constituency for 30 years.

His son Tanveer who is seeking re-election has been already elected four times and is sure of victory again (fifth time).

The BJP strategy this time seems to be to polarise Hindu votes. For this purpose it has put up a Hindu candidate, Sandesh Swamy. As its rivals have put up Muslim candidates, a consolidation of Hindu votes may help the party.

The Congress, for all these reasons, is having a tough time in this constituency. The going is not easy for the party in some others including Krishnaraja. Under the circumstances, it is unlikely to repeat its 2013 performance and bag eight out of eleven seats in the district.

Hindusthan Samachar/ R. Narayan/ Shri Ram Shaw