BJP looks to ride the development wave, while Congress looks to woo voters with hyper local promises in Malleswaram  

From heritage buildings to swanky malls, numerous educational institutions and shopping streets, Malleswaram constituency in the heart of the city is widely known for its old Bengaluru charm, but the citizens here have lately been in the news for their protests against several infrastructure projects.

From heritage buildings to swanky malls, numerous educational institutions and shopping streets, Malleswaram constituency in the heart of the city is widely known for its old Bengaluru charm, but the citizens here have lately been in the news for their protests against several infrastructure projects.  

While certain sectors have been happy with the developmental projects taken up by incumbent MLA C.N. Ashwath Narayan who has won from the seat the last three times, the same has also been opposed by a few other sections. For instance, the widening of Sankey Road and the construction of a flyover from T. Chowdaiah Road was one such initiative which received immense backlash. From children writing letters to ‘Bommai uncle’ to protesters wearing black to later FIRs being registered against them, the issues went a long way. 

Alleging that their local leader did not take their side or even open doors for clear dialogue during the protests, citizens have expressed their disappointment in the sitting MLA. The opposition parties too had used the controversy to criticise the government. After FIRs were registered against the protesters, Congress leaders declared that they would stop the Sankey project as well as withdraw the FIRs if they came to power. 

“We are extremely concerned with the unscientific development projects which do not even follow the guidelines prescribed by the government itself. When we approached the MLA with our concerns (about Sankey project), he just said that it was a BBMP project and there was no call to discuss the matter. We (public) have no say in big infrastructure projects. We have an institution like Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in our own constituency and even then, expert consultations are not sought for bigger projects,” said Preeti Sunderajan, Co-founder, Citizens for Sankey. 

The white-topping work which had been taken up on Sampige Road had also rendered the busy street almost unwalkable for a period of time, which had affected the trade activities. However, traders now seem to be happy with the results. “Infrastructure has been developed in a very good way, no doubt. But we now want the more than 600 street vendors who have occupied these developed footpaths to be directed to a vending zone so that it is beneficial to traders and pedestrians alike,” said Ravishankar, president, Malleswaram Commercial Forum.  

When asked about the opposition which he has faced on a few fronts, Dr. Ashwath Narayan said that projects were initiated after taking into confidence the local residents and traders and people were happy with the results. “Be it white topping in Sampige Road or the development of Sankey Lake, people’s faith in the party and the work we have done has grown. The support we are seeing this year is greater than last term,” he said. 

Congress leader Anoop Iyengar on the other hand, is trying to woo the voters with his ‘Marvelous Malleswaram’ manifesto. “We are going to take up hyper local projects like solid waste management and segregation, last mile connectivity to the metro station, smart road technology, sports and parking complexes among other things to give back Malleswaram its heritage. These are the issues which are not being addressed by the present MLA,” he said.