The Gandhinagar Assembly constituency, which is in the heart of the city, is known for being the nerve centre of the Kannada film industry, a transport hub, and housing key commercial areas such as Cottonpet, Chickpet, and Balepet.
However, it is also known for poor infrastructure, lack of development in slums, narrow roads, garbage clearance issues, water scarcity and traffic issues.
The constituency remains the bastion of Congress since 1999, where MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao has won five terms in a row. The bustling constituency is dominated by slums in Okalipuram and Subhashnagar, which cry for attention to various infrastructure issues.
“We are just a vote bank for politicians,” said Nanjavva, a resident of Okalipuram. “There are many issues that the area is facing, a major one is of water logging during rains where rainwater enters our houses. The garbage piles up on the road, and no one cleans it up. The slums have not been developed,” she added.
While more than a lakh people use the Majestic bus station and railway station every day, the area sees traffic bottlenecks, and the cleanliness of the underpasses, skywalks and roads has been questioned by commuters. “If you see the underpass in the Majestic area, there is only waste. How can we walk in such underpasses and roads? Apart from this, there are a lot of traffic snarls all around Majestic area,” Laxminarayan, a commuter, said.
Roads in Okalipuram, Majestic, Seshadripuram, Central near Mantri Mall, and Chickpet are known for traffic snarls.
The constituency has a huge Tamil population and the AIADMK had earlier contested from here. In 1994, Muniyappa won here from AIADMK. The incumbent MLA Mr. Rao, however, is confident that he will win this constituency for the sixth time.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said, “Most of the unsolved issues which were in the constituency have been solved. All the people in the constituency have good opinion of me. In crisis such as the pandemic, I have worked closely with the people and helped them.”
“We have identified areas to shift the slum inhabitants to pucca houses,” he added.
The BJP has fielded A.R. Sapthagiri Gowda from the constituency, who is the son of former Minister Ramachandra Gowda. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Gowda alleged that there is no development under the present MLA who has won for five terms. “I am confident that I will win this time with a good margin since people here want change,” he added.
