Basavanagudi and Chickpet, among the oldest areas in Bengaluru, continue to suffer from problems as old as the city

Bengaluru Chickpet and Basavanagudi are among the oldest areas of the city and the problems voters of these Assembly constituencies continue to face are just as old — shortage of drinking water, narrow roads, lack of parking space, and poor education and health infrastructure.

Chickpet and Basavanagudi are among the oldest areas of the city and the problems voters of these constituencies continue to face are just as old — shortage of drinking water, narrow roads, lack of parking space, and poor education and health infrastructure.

Chickpet Assembly constituency has densely populated pockets with narrow roads that are choked with traffic and they get flooded during heavy rain. There is also the problem of unscientific garbage disposal. One of the pressing problems in the old pete area, which is the wholesale market hub of the city, is the paucity of parking space. There are also several traffic bottlenecks in the constituency, including J.C. Road. “People of Siddapura and surrounding areas have been suffering from lack of drinking water for many years and no public representative has initiated measures to fix this,” said Srinivas from Chickpet constituency.

While Basavanagudi is a relatively better-off constituency, similar problems continue to affect its residents too. Many alleged that development in the constituency is not uniform. “While areas where the upper-middle-class people reside are well off, pockets such as Ashoknagar, Gavipuram, Kathriguppe, and Dhobi Ghat are not. We face water, drainage, garbage, and other problems every day. Even the quality of roadworks is not on a par with that in the upper-middle-class pockets,” complained Umashankar, a resident of Basavanagudi.

Financial irregularities in Sri Guru Raghavendra Cooperative Bank seems to have become a plank against the incumbent three-time MLA L.A. Ravi Subramanya. Congress candidate U.B. Venkatesh has been campaigning saying that he would ensure the case is handed over to the CBI if he gets elected. Mr. Subramanya has shot back that neither was he a member nor had he availed of a loan from the bank and that it was due to steps taken by party local MP, Tejaswi Surya [also his nephew], that most of the investors had got back their money.

While Mr. Subramanya and Mr. Venkatesh are Brahmins, fighting out for the community’s large vote base in the constituency, the JD(S) has fielded K.V. Shankar from the Vokkaliga community, which is also in large numbers. While Mr. Subramanya has remained popular for his accessibility and affability, he is banking on his and the party’s support base to win a fourth time, while the Opposition is hopeful of anti-incumbency, both against the MLA and the ruling BJP, helping it make a dent.

Meanwhile, election in Chickpet will likely be a four-cornered fight this time and is expected to go down to the wire. After the delimitation of the constituency in 2008, the BJP has won twice and the Congress once — in 2013. BJP’s internal surveys reportedly indicated its incumbent MLA, Uday Garudachar, faced a steep anti-incumbency and toyed with the idea of fielding a new candidate, but finally went with him again. The Congress ranks faced rebellion with the former Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun and another ticket aspirant KGF Babu, the richest candidate in the fray this Assembly elections, filing their nominations as Independents. Though Ms. Mallikarjun withdrew her nomination in favour of the party’s candidate, the former MLA R.V. Devaraj, Mr. Babu is still in the fray.

The JD(S) has fielded the former councillor Imran Pasha. The presence of two Muslim candidates may split the community’s votes and undermine the Congress too, it is speculated. Brijesh Kalappa is in the fray from the Aam Aadmi Party, fighting polls on an anti-corruption plank and a promise to develop K.R. Market on the lines of Chandini Chowk in Delhi.