Issues in the constituency have always been rounding around infrastructure. Most of the IT companies including the units of Wipro, and Mphasis and premier educational institutions like IIM-B and famous tourist spots like Lal Bagh fall in Bangalore South constituency, burdened with congested roads, inadequate water and power supply. Over-population has forced the election commission to create two new Lok Sabha constituencies, carving out Bangalore South and North in the recent delimitation process.
Report card
Infrastructure problems in the constituency play a major role in the current elections. The population is touching a crore in the city that was planned for four lakh citizens. Just the vehicle population is 37 lakhs, resulting in hours of traffic jams. After several debates, the government has cleared the Bangalore Metro project two years ago but this project is running into rough weather due to economic slowdown and problems pertaining to contractors and land acquisitions.
Adding to the woes, the meltdown has hit the ongoing infrastructure projects in the city. It has been estimated that over 75% of the 96 roads which were to be widened and six flyovers in the pipeline will not get completed within scheduled time due to cash crunch.
Two years ago, the state government had created Greater Bangalore by merging around 100 villages, seven city municipal councils and one town municipal council within the Bangalore Metropolitan area under the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike limits, mostly under Bangalore South constituency. After merger, the infrastructure problems, relating to water and power in particular, have increased in the constituency.
As a result of inadequate power supply, almost all software and other industrial and business firms in Bangalore South depend on captive power generators during summers. Recent reports on attacks on women in Bangalore also became an important issue in the current elections. Low-cost aviation pioneer and Air Deccan founder Captain GR Gopinath is pitched against two major candidates ? BJP general secretary HN Ananth Kumar, who is seeking re-election from Bangalore South for the fifth time in a row, and Congress candidate Krishna Byre Gowda, a post-graduate in international affairs from American University and considered close to Rahul Gandhi ? how they will tackle the development issues remain to be seen.
My Voice
TV Mohandas Pai Director-H R Infosys
People require roads to their home and water in their taps. Public transport is good but there is too much of traffic congestion. With terrorist incidents like in Mumbai, people are looking for more security. We want a peaceful life and condemn the recent attacks on women, and believe respect for women must be there.
MN Vijay Kumar Project Consultant
Traffic is a major problem. The government had said that the Metro Rail Project would be completed by 2010. But there is no sign of completing the work. There is no clear picture on the power projects as the city is facing acute power crunch. The proposed thermal plants will take another 5-10 years for completion.
A Murali Businessman
Unscheduled power cuts have become common. Because of elections, the government is not resorting to power cuts. But after election, there will be power cuts. Unless the policy makers work on some solid projects, the power problem will remain. The government should create new townships on the outskirts to reduce traffic and infrastructure problems.
Infrastructure development
Transport
The Rs 450 crore 9-km elevated highway with 10-lane is one of the major ongoing projects in Bangalore South that connects Bangalore with Electronic City, the software cluster of the city.
Water
Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is struggling to supply adequate water. The government is in the process of implementing Cauvery Water Supply Scheme stage IV (Phase II) to supply 500 million litres of water per day to 15 lakh people in the city.
Health
Water borne diseases have become quite common in recent years.
Industrial measures
In the past two years, industrial growth has come to a standstill in Bangalore South due to infrastructure woes. Several IT firms including Infosys and Wipro, which are headquartered in Bangalore, have chosen to move to other states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and even to Kerala for their further expansions. Sensing the trouble brewing over infrastructure in Bangalore, Tamil Nadu is in the process of setting up an exclusive IT park in its industrial town Hosur, which is an hours drive from Bangalore, to woo IT investments from the garden city.
Bangalore South parliamentary constituency
PRE DELIMITATION
Electors in 2004 16.22 lakh
POST DELIMITATION
Break up of the constituency
Govindaraj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Chickpet, Basavangudi, Padmanabha Nagar, BTM Layout, Jayanagar and Bommanahalli
Electors 19.02 lakh voters
Main candidates
HN Ananth Kumar (BJP) (Sitting MP)
Krishna Byre Gowda (Congress)
Prof KE Radhakrishnan (Janta Dal S)
Capt GR Gopinath (Independent)
Size of community votes
Earlier Brahmin community was the majority in the constituency. But after delimitation, Vokkaliga community tops in the vote-bank with around 4.5 lakh voters followed by 3.5 lakh of Brahmin votes while each of Kuruba, Reddy and Christian communities have two lakh votes followed by 1-lakh Muslim votes.
