Political parties focus on 'Brand Bangalore'

With Karnataka getting ready for the hustings and with the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission coming into force, the value of 'Brand Bangalore' has begun to see a rise in the 'vote market'.

Political parties, which have been concentrating on rural voters for the last three decades, are now changing gear as the delimitation exercise (redrawing of geographical boundaries of constituencies on the basis of the 2001 census) has led to the emergence of more urban assembly segments in the state.

Bangalore urban district, which had 15 constituencies, will now have 28 constituencies. Similarly, the Bangalore rural district, which is speeding down the fast track of urbanisation, has eight constituencies. If both districts are viewed collectively, then Brand Bangalore will be represented in the 224-member legislative assembly by 36 MLAs (16 per cent of the assembly).

The increased number is forcing political parties to revise their poll strategies as their fortunes now depend on the urban centres, particularly in Bangalore.

A senior politician and former minister explained: "We can no longer secure votes by selling the roti-kapda-makaan (food-clothing-shelter) concept. If we have to win, we have to talk more about metalled and pothole-free roads, flyovers and sophisticated healthcare infrastructure.''

The three major political parties in the state "" Congress, BJP and JD(S) "" are intensifying their focus on Bangalore. The Congress, which had bagged nine of the 15 seats during the 2004 assembly elections, plans to piggyback on the positive developments like asphalting of roads and reduction of penalties for land use under the Sakrama scheme taken up during the President's Rule. The party is also all set to dole out goodies in the state budget to be presented from Delhi.

These apart, the Congress plans to bring back former chief minister and present Maharashtra governor S M Krishna to curry favour with the urban voters.

Krishna, though out of action in the state for the last four years, is seen by the educated urban voter as a hope to mitigate the city's woes. Krishna, during his tenure as CM , was instrumental in transforming Bangalore's road and housing infrastructure.

Worried about the silent moves being made by the Congress, the BJP too is reworking its strategies. The BJP, which was riding the sympathy wave following the betrayal by its partner JD(S), has now trained its guns on the Congress.

The urban-centric party is consolidating its position by targeting the city's slums and the middle-class localities as it is people from these segments who make it to the polling booth.

The BJP plans to recount former deputy CM B S Yeddyurappa's previous two budgets and narrate how big infrastructure projects such as the underground expressway and high-speed rail projects were derailed by the political fiasco.

While the odds for Bangalore are even between the BJP and Congress, the city has turned out to be a handicap for the JD(S). Given former Prime Minister and party supreme H D Deve Gowda's anti-development image and his spat with pro-industry operators, the delimitation exercise has dampened the party's chances at the hustings.

Gowda's son and former CM H D Kumaraswamy, who did not anticipate an increase in the number of constituencies before the assembly elections, is a worried man.

He is desperate to increase the party's seat count from one in 2004 in Bangalore, but is having a tough time finding candidates. The party is urging educated youngsters to take the plunge into the city's political waters.

Whatever the poll strategies of the three parties, the bottomline is: Bangalore will be taken much more seriously by those who aspire to be in power.