The city may have the moniker of the most dynamic in the world — according to some surveys at least — but politically, it continues to remain stagnant. A bevy of familiar faces have crowded the lists of both major parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, which put together have dominated the city’s politics.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, only seven of 28 elected MLAs were first-time winners. The remaining 21 were incumbent MLAs who were re-elected; most of them had held onto their seats for over two terms, and two of them even six times.
The political winds predict a similar plot in the 2018 Assembly elections, too. In this season, all 28 incumbent MLAs have been given ticket by their respective parties. Two Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs, who crossed over to the Congress, have also been given ticket. In keeping with the tried and tested formula, candidates in various constituencies facing off against the incumbent MLAs have fought the same battle in previous election cycles.
Same pairings
Among the new faces, the Congress has fielded only seven. The BJP has an even lower count at three. All have been fielded in constituencies where the parties have lost in the past.
V. Somanna — who is taking on the State’s richest candidate, Priya Krishna, Congress MLA for Govindarajanagar — has been contesting elections from various parties (Janata National Party, JD(S), Congress, and BJP) since 1985. He now returns as BJP candidate to the constituency he last represented in 2008 from Congress.
It is from the same pool of over 50 candidates that the city seems to be choosing its representatives in the last decade and a half. In Anekal, for the third time since 2004, B. Shivanna (INC), will take on three-time MLA A. Narayanaswamy from the BJP.
For 10 years, voters in Byatarayanapura have had Congress candidate Krishna Byre Gowda and BJP’s A. Ravi to choose from. Narendra Babu, now in BJP after jumping from INC, and K. Gopalaiah from the JD(S) will be battling it out in Mahalakshmi Layout, and have been doing so since 2008.
For the second election in a row, Mahadevapura will see A.C. Srinivas (INC) and Arvind Limbavali (BJP) contesting, while in Chickpet old rivals R.V. Devraj (INC) and Uday Garudachar (BJP) are competing for a prime seat in the heart of the city.
In Pulikeshinagar, it’s Akhanda Srinivas Murthy (INC) and Prasanna Kumar (JD-S), albeit after a swap in parties, while the erstwhile Karnataka Janata Paksha candidate Sushila Devraj returns as BJP candidate. Even in Shantinagar, BJP candidate K. Vasudev Murthy has previously contested against N.A. Haris on JD(S) ticket.
In Shivajinagar, a 24-year-old electoral face-off is playing out again. Controversial former Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, a three-time MLA, will face-off with Minister Roshan Baig. And in Rajajinagar, former Mayor Padmavathi will be squaring off again against Suresh Kumar, four-time MLA. In 2008, Ms. Padmavathi lost by over 15,000 votes. For most political leaders, the outcomes of the elections remain near certain, with pockets of urban poor and concentrated mixtures of castes guaranteeing an edge to one party. A senior MLA from the city said the result of at least 15 seats — where a mix of Congress and BJP incumbents will retain their seats — was a foregone conclusion and the electoral fight was only in the remaining seats.
