Parties woo Bangalore voters with big promises

EYE ON VOTES: BJP says it will set up a separate power generation unit and a metropolitan development authority.

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Bangalore: Bangalore is the flavour of the election season in Karnataka and all three major political parties in the state are vying with each other to woo the voters of Bangalore.

The delimitation exercise has benefited the southern metropolis tremendously.

Congress leader and former chief minister SM Krishna had promised to make Bangalore another Singapore during last elections.

He lost power even before he actually started but is back with more promises this time.

Krishna's is the trump card of Congress in Bangalore and his rivals in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) are now forced to copy his Bangalore centric agenda.

"Singapore is a benchmark and then I at that point also said that ultimately it is the people of Bangalore who would make what Bangalore should be," Krishna says.

Bangalore now has 36 Assembly seats and it has prompted BJP to make all possible efforts to woo the IT city voters.

While Congress is promising a Rs. 50,000-crore special infrastructure package, the BJP is promising a separate power generation unit and the creation of metropolitan development authority.

"I think within three years we will change the atmosphere in Bangalore," BS Yediyurappa assures.

Meanwhile the party of the farmers and villagers, JD(S), is wooing the public. Its main campaigner HD Kumaraswamy is taking credit for the metro rail and new international airport. And the voters are happy with this sudden change in attitude.

"Bangalore today has 36 Assembly constituencies and it well developed. It needs better infrastructure since finally Bangalore matters," Naveen Cariappa, a voter in Bangalore, says.

"Ten years from now, I'll see 35 years-old people ruling the city. I'm gong to see political leadership at the age of 35, economic leadership. CEOs at the age of 35, social leadership and entrepreneurship at the age of 35. I see Bangalore in 10 years to be a young city," Harish Bijoor, a resident of Bangalore, says.

Bangalore is the biggest gainer of delimitation. It has now become a political power centre as well as an economic power and no political party in Karnataka can take the voters of Bangalore for granted any longer.

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