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Journalism of Courage
In the Basavanagudi constituency in Bengaluru South – which houses some of the city’s cultural landmarks such as the Gandhi Bazar shopping complex, Indian Institute of World Culture, Vidyarthi Bhavan, National College, and the Dodda Ganesha Temple – caste has played a key role across elections.
Out of the 2.3 lakh voters, over 75,000 are Brahmins and 65,000 are Vokkaligas. Parties have traditionally fielded dominant leaders from these communities. This strategy has worked for the BJP too, whose Ravi Subramanya has been a three-time MLA here.
For 15 years, the dominant Brahmin community has sided with Subramanya. Owing to his influence and the developmental work he has undertaken, he is considered the strongest candidate in the forthcoming polls too. However, this time there could be a split within the community’s votes, with the Congress also fielding a Brahmin candidate, U B Venkatesh.
Venkatesh, a sitting MLC and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge loyallist, is also aiming to gain an edge by consolidating the votes from OBC groups largely scattered across Basavanagudi. Meanwhile, JD(S) candidate KV Shankar (Aramane Shankar) is eyeing the Vokkaliga votes.
Subramanya’s campaign has centered around “well-equipped infrastructure” in the constituency. Venkatesh has been choosing to highlight the loopholes of the work in parts of the constituency and is hitting out at “poor health and education infrastructure” within the area.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Venkatesh said, “There is no basic infrastructure in Basavanagudi including drinking water facilities. The schools are underdeveloped, there are no health centers, multi speciality hospitals and community halls. More than 30% of the population here are senior citizens and there is no proper infrastructure like parks to support their needs.”
Besides infrastructure, the conversation around the Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha scam of 2020 looms large here.
The bank scam, a money laundering case, is linked to alleged misappropriation of public funds to the tune of over Rs 1480 crore. Out of the thousands of depositors said to have been impacted due to the scheme, a large chunk are residents of south Bengaluru. Out of the 45,000 depositors, most got the Rs 5 lakh insurance amount from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Although Subramanya and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya managed to quell the anger among most of the depositors, there are some who are still facing the pinch. Over over 15,000 depositors who have deposited more than Rs 6 lakh and are yet to get the full relief amount. The victims are spearheading a door-to-door campaign in Basavangudi and other parts of Bengaluru to “vote for the right candidate who can help the victims get relief”.
Venkatesh, who had raised the issue of the bank scam in the Vidhan Parishad and campaigned for the depositors over the last 16 months said, “We don’t want to create this as a poll issue because some of the depositors have died after the scam due to various health reasons. Out of humanity, we will stand with the depositors until they get the full justice. The government is yet to handover the case to CBI. Their promises are just an eyewash.”
Harish Venky, general secretary of Hitarakshana Vedike, a forum fighting for the compensation on behalf of the bank scam victims said, “We are making sure that the bank scam is highlighted in the upcoming election. The bank still has Rs 1,600 crore of depositors money that is yet to be distributed. However, the DICGC which has given the relief amount to the tune of Rs 730 crore, is submitting its claim to the bank and asking them to clear their bills first, before releasing the amount for the depositors if the bank is revived. As a result, the hopes of getting the money back for nearly 15,000 depositors has faded. We have challenged the DICGC’s move in the High Court.”
