Bengaluru: Chickpet is considered as the fortress of non-Congress political parties since the voters of this assembly constituency had elected Congress candidates only thrice between 1957 and 2013. The other interesting thing is the success of the Independent candidates from Chickpet twice (1957 and 1967) and the success of Janata Dal (Secular) candidate in a bye-poll held in 1996. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates have won four times (1994, 1999, 2004 and 2008) while Congress candidates got elected thrice (1962, 1989 and 2013).
The present incumbent R.V. Devaraj got defeated in 2008 by a margin of 7,281 votes by the BJP candidate Dr. Hemachandra Sagar. Devaraj got 32,971 votes while Sagar polled 40,252 votes. However, the BJP did not field Sagar in the 2013 Assembly elections due to his association with B.S. Yeddyurappa who launched Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) after walking out of the BJP.
The BJP selected Uday B. Garudachar while Congress decided to give Devaraj one more chance in 2013. Devaraj romped home by defeating Garudachar with a margin of 13,059 votes. Devaraj got 44,714 votes while Garudachar managed to get 31,655 votes.
The voters of Chickpet opine that division of votes among the KJP candidate, the JD(S) candidate and the BJP candidate has helped the Congress candidate to win from this constituency. “The fight between two candidates always ends up helping the third candidate. The other advantage of Congress candidate was, he was aware of those areas where Congress is strong and the areas where he did not get votes during the elections held in 2008. He managed to strengthen Congress cadre in such areas and it helped him to romp home with a huge majority,’’ said Sunil Jain, a resident of Chickpet.
Some of the voters say Congress MLA Devaraj has been proactive in fixing the civic problems. They said Devaraj’s son R V Yuvaraj who got elected as a corporator to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council from Sudhamanagar has been helping his father in fixing the infrastructure-related issues in Chickpet assembly segment. “We have no complaints against father and son. Both are active. They were seen everywhere in the constituency when a heavy rain caused havoc in the city. We want them to show a little bit more interest in ensuring conservancy workers clearing garbage on a daily basis,’’ said Aslam Pasha, a resident of Sudhamanagar.
Chickpet has 2,05,440 voters and among them, 1,06,694 are men and 98,731 are women voters while 15 are others.
Congestion in the entire KR Market area is terrible. Footpath encroachment is common in this area, especially around the KR Market, Avenue Road, BVK Iyengar Road, and the areas around Mamulpet, Sultanpet, Kalasipalya and Dharmarayaswamy Temple.
“We are not happy with the elected representatives, including corporators, for their inability to ensure this assembly segment free from garbage menace. The other nauseating thing is the encroachment of footpaths in this area. I hope that some wisdom prevails upon our elected representative to realise their responsibilities,’’ Ismail Pasha, a vegetable vendor at K.R. Market.
Chickpet has seven BBMP wards. While Congress candidates won from three wards -Sudhamanagar, Hombegowda Nagar, and Jayanagar – BJP corporators represent three wards – Visvesvarapuram, Sunkenahalli and Dharmaraya Swamy Temple. Mujahid Pasha A of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) created a history by defeating Congress veteran Udayashankar from Siddapura ward in 2015.
All in all, Congress candidate will have no hassles unless BJP fields a potential candidate with a good track record to contest from Chickpet in the next Assembly elections.
