BJP’s Tejasvi Surya faces stiff challenge from Sowmya Reddy in Bengaluru South

In fact, since 1977, Congress has won in Bengaluru only once when former Chief Minister late R Gundu Rao emerged victorious in the 1989 elections.

A constituency with a significant Brahmin population, it had been represented mostly by members of the community.

Interview: BJP candidate and ‘Mysuru Maharaja’ Yaduveer Wadiyar wants to script his own destiny

Congress leaving no stone unturned

Hoping to turn the tide against the BJP, the ruling Congress in Karnataka has put all its might behind Sowmya with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar leaving no stone unturned to boost her electoral prospects.

The Congress is banking heavily on its five guarantees and Sowmya being the Transport Minister’s daughter highlights how the “Shakti” guarantee has allowed women to travel in non-luxury government buses across the state free of cost.

“Do you travel in buses? Which places have you visited in the recent past? Do you pay or travel for free?” Sowmya asked women voters during a recent roadshow.

During canvassing, Sowmya also makes it a point to tell people about the four other guarantees ‘Gruha Lakshmi’, ‘Gruha Jyoti’, ‘Yuva Nidhi’ and ‘Anna Bhagya’. “Who brought ‘Achchhe Din’? Is it Congress or the BJP? Which ‘Achchhe Din’ you will vote for?”

Also Read: PM Modi showers Deve Gowda with praise in Vokkaliga belt of Mysuru

BJP banks on PM Modi

Like many other BJP candidates, Surya underlines the strides made by the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past ten years, during his meetings with voters.

“Ten years ago, when you look at the state of our economy, the white paper very clearly mentions in detail the state of the country’s economy. We were counted among the most fragile economies in the world. Today, we are one of the top five economies. This journey from fragile five to top five captures how our institutions were strengthened,” Surya said.

The 33-year-old Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president had been conducting talks by right-wing intellectuals, especially those affiliated with RSS and ‘Sangh Parivar’ in his constituency.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)