Of all the constituencies in Karnataka, Bangalore Central Constituency has perhaps received the largest space in the media, both print and electronic, for debates, discussions, guesswork and gossip on who would get elected to the 15th Lok Sabha in these elections. The media has given a fairly balanced portion to all three candidates to voice their promises and programmes. The trio who are contesting the elections have been media-branded as the Amar, Akbar, Antony (reminiscing Amitabh Bachan’s famous triple-act in the movie Amar Akbar, Antony) of Bangalore Central.
The first focus is on Congress fresher H T Sangliana who got the BJP party whip for voting over the Indo-US nuclear deal in favor of the UPA government and in defiance of BJP party orders. The second focus is on PC Mohan of the BJP who enjoys considerable support from primarily the Hindu community but hopes to garner support from the Christian and Muslim community as well. The third focus is on Zameer Khan of the Janatha Dal who, speculations have it, will grab a sizeable majority of Muslims to vote in his favour, as political analysts feel the Muslim electorate would invariably tilt in favour of a Muslim candidate.
The greater part of the suspense is over HT Sangliana as it is hard to guess if Sangliana’s joining the Congress has reduced his vote-count with BJP loyalists scorning his act. On the other hand, Sangliana’s long-standing track-record as bureaucrat and police officer has earned him sufficient mileage from both the youth populace and the proactive citizen. Sangliana also enjoys the support of non-party affiliates who feel he stood for principles in the interest of the nation more than party politics when he hit the button in parliament.
Sangliana also told media persons that the Muslim community were also happy with him while the Christian community will definitely vote him in though there are presumably, a small section of the Christian community who may be disappointed over his earlier association with the BJP. Not all in the Christian community see the BJP as communal. Christian party workers have supported the BJP in the past, though unsuccessful in getting a ticket to contest. Zameer, hailing from the Janata Dal lifts his scorecard over the large Muslim population in the constituency and in addition hope to have the vote swing in favour of his party, especially from voters who are probably unhappy with the BJP and the Congress.
In Bangalore Central, it is not going to be a tug-o-war because there are not just two ends to the rope. There are three.
