One of the prominent Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, Bangalore South is among the 14 seats that will vote in the state's first phase of polls on April 26. The constituency comprises significant parts of the southern region of Bengaluru – Govindraj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Chickpet, Basavanagudi, Padmanabha Nagar, BTM Layout, Jayanagar and Bommanahalli legislative assembly seats.
Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency
A stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1991, Bangalore South will witness a fight a between BJP sitting MP Tejasvi Surya and Congress leader Sowmya Reddy in the much-awaited Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to begin on April 19. Bangalore South voted in Congress' favour only twice – 1951 and 1989. In contrast, the BJP has not lost a single Lok Sabha election in the constituency since 1991.
BJP veteran Ananth Kumar was a six-time MP from Bangalore South from 1996 until his passing in 2018. Kumar had contributed to the BJP's strong presence in the constituency.
Tejasvi Surya vs Sowmya Reddy
After the passing of Kumar, the BJP fielded Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Surya in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He merged victorious by defeating Congress leader BK Hariprasad. Surya secured 7,39,229 votes, which accounted for 62.20 per cent of the total votes cast in the constituency. Hariprasad managed to garner 4,08,037 votes.
Meanwhile, the Congress is seeking to dislodge the BJP from the Bangalore South by fielding Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of Karnataka’s Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy. She is the general secretary of All India Mahila Congress of Karnataka and was the MLA from Jayanagar in 2018. She lost the seat to BJP’s CK Ramamurthy in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls.
