Battle of the Bastions: 'People of Bengaluru South are nationalists. They will back Narendra Modi'

Between former Supreme Court judge K.S. Hegde to the quintessential Bengalureans, late Ananth Kumar and Tejasvi Surya — the pool of Lok Sabha members representing Bengaluru South has constantly garnered national spotlight. The constituency sent BJP stalwart Ananth Kumar to Lok Sabha for six terms in a row since 1996 until his demise in 2018. While Kumar emerged as the first Karnataka leader to make a defining mark in the BJP's central politics, his Bengaluru South successor Tejasvi Surya became the president of BJP youth wing in 2020, less than a year after he won his first Lok Sabha election.

File photo of former Bengaluru South MP Ananth Kumar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Among India's 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, Bengaluru South has established itself as a defining stronghold of the saffron party in the recent decades.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party candidates have won from Bengaluru South consistently since 1991, for a total of eight Lok Sabha elections in a row.

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Tejasvi Surya was elected to Lok Sabhain 2019 after he defeated the Congress party veteran B.K. Hariprasad by over 330,000 votes, winning over 62 per cent of total votes polled. For the Congress party, the challenge to break through the BJP's Bengaluru South citadel remains an uphill task. The grand old party has fielded Sowmya Reddy, daughter of Karnataka transportminister Ramalinga Reddy, against Surya in Bengaluru South.

Tejasvi Surya and Sowmya Reddy on their respective campaign trails | X/@Tejasvi_Surya; Sowmyreddyr

The Congress party is heavily banking on its state government's 'Shakti' guarantee that has allowed women to travel in non-luxury government buses for free across the state. The BJP is underlining the country's economic growth in Modi years while promising a 'developed' India if the prime minister returns to power for a third term in a row.

Before Bengaluru South goes to polls on April 26 during phase-2 of voting, WION interviewed serving Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya. Below are the excerpts:

What makes your constituency Bengaluru South a BJP bastion?

Bengaluru South epitomises a well-educated, cosmopolitan electorate that actively engages with the city's development.Perhaps that’s why they consistently choose BJP.

Leadership is tested not in times of abundance but in times of crisis. The people of Bengaluru have seen me work in the last 5 years and noticed the significant strides in Bengaluru South during my first term.

How confident are you aboutwinning again?

In my very first year as MP, we were met with the challenge of a once-in-a-century Covid pandemic and I was on the frontline. When Bengaluru's cases were soaring above 40,000 and hospital beds were unavailable for critical patients, I identified and exposed irregularities in the bed booking system. I also worked on revamping Bengaluru municipality'sBed Booking Software and within 100 hours, over 4,026 beds became available for critical patients. At the same time, I revived 4 defunct hospitals, adding 350beds with Oxygen-support for citizens. My office also set up the country's largest oxygen concentrator bank with over 1,200 concentrators, saving more than 3,000 lives.

In the last 5 years, the number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras in Bengaluru South have risen from 14 to 120 in 2024, making Bengaluru South the constituency with the highest number of these kendras in the country.

People have also seen how, after the DJ Halli and KG Halli riots, I successfully advocated for establishing an NIA office in Bengaluru with Union Home Minister Amit Shah Ji for boosting the city's security.

Further, this is a national election for choosing the leader for the country for the next five years. People of Bengaluru South, who are inherently nationalistic, will resoundingly back Prime Minister Narendra Modi and bless me with a huge margin on April 26.

What are your contributions to Bengaluru South constituency?

The biggest highlight is that Bengaluru has received projects worth more than ₹1.3 lakh crore in the last fiveyears alone from PM Modi, the highest contribution by any PM.

They include the approval for the decades-old Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project, Phase 2A, 2B of Namma Metro along with the completion of the Purple Line, 280 km Satellite Town Ring Road around Bengaluru to ease congestion, 1,500 electric buses for Bengaluru and National Investigative Agency (NIA) Office for the city’s safety.

Apart from this, I persistently followed through on a long-standing promise for a US Consulate for Bengaluru, pending since the Chief Ministership of SM Krishna, and secured approval for it.

For the Sri Guru Raghavendra Cooperative Bank depositors, I pushed for banking reforms which enabled 78 per centof the depositors to get over ₹753 crore in deposit insurance.

Additionally, I put all efforts to secure substantial stop-gap funding of ₹900 crore for the stalled Mantri Serenity Apartment through the SWAMIH Fund, helping over 1,200 families achieve their dream of owning a house.

Who do you hold responsible for Bengaluru's potable water crisis? What would you do to avoid the recurrence of such a crisis?

We have seen how the Congress Government in Karnataka has mismanaged the water crisis, with about 80 per cent of the wards in the city suffering from a shortage. Borewells are running dry and water tankers are either unavailable or charging a bomb even though the State Government claims to have regulated them.

The Congress Government knew about six months ago itself that there’s a drought-like situation coming up in the state and yet, they failed to properly highlight the deficit water availability in the reservoirs during multiple hearings before the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal. The Congress DCM even ‘welcomed’ the adverse orders that were being passed against the interests of Karnataka.

Bengaluru's water crisis demands urgent and strategic intervention. Exploring long-term solutions for providing water security for Bengaluru residents is one of my top priorities in the next term. Together with the active participation of citizens and volunteers, we will focus on revitalising lakes, enhancing rainwater harvesting, and rigorously implementing aquifer recharge projects to ensure long-term water sustainability for all residents.

As one of the country's youngest elected MPs, what's your message for India's first time voters?

About 10 years ago, the youth of this country overwhelmingly elected Sri Narendra Modi Ji as the prime minister. Since then, Modi Ji has propelled India from being one of the 'Fragile 5' economies to world's fifth-largest economy.

PM Modi focuses on youth-led development. Initiatives like Startup India and the revamped National Education Policy have positioned India on a trajectory of rapid growth and innovation, particularly benefiting Bengaluru as the startup capital.

Initiatives such as Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and Khelo India have empowered our youth to excel in sports, bringing in never-seen-before importance to physical fitness of the young generation. Our government’s unwavering commitment to national security has ensured that India remains safe and secure, with a zero tolerance policy against terrorism.

Youngsters' votes are crucial for sustaining this momentum towards making India the world's third-largest economy. I encourage first-time voters to participate actively in shaping our nation's future by supporting a stable, visionary leadership, and contribute big for 'Ab Ki Baar 400 Paar'.

Bengaluru South is scheduled to vote on April 26. The counting of votes will begin on June 4, 2024.