Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Bengaluru North key candidates: Shobha Karandlaje vs Rajeev Gowda. All you need to know

Four Lok Sabha seats in Bengaluru are gearing up to go to polls on Friday and the Election Commission is expecting a decent voter turnout in the state capital this time. Polling will also be held in ten other Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, and the remaining seats will go for polls during the third phase, which is scheduled on May 7. Bengaluru South, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru Central, and Bengaluru Rural are the four Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka’s capital.

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Bengaluru North

Bengaluru North is the third largest parliament seat in the country and the biggest one in Karnataka with more than 30 lakh voters. This is also considered one of the key constituencies, as this part of Bengaluru is seeing rapid growth in investments, infrastructure and real estate. A total of eight assembly constituencies are part of this Parliament seat, which include KR Puram, Byatarayanapura, Yeshwantpura, Dasarahalli, Mahalakshmi Layout, Malleshwaram, Hebbal and Pulakeshinagar.

How did Bengaluru North vote in the past?

Until 1991, the Congress party had maintained a winning streak in Bengaluru North, but in 1996, C Narayanaswamy of Janata Dal became the first non-Congress leader to win from this constituency. The second chief minister of Karnataka and the Congress leader, Kengal Hanumanthaiah also represented this constituency thrice as an MP. However, since 2004, BJP has been winning Bengaluru North, and another former Karnataka chief minister, Sadananda Gowda, won from here in 2014 and 2019.

Who are the key candidates in Bengaluru North?

The BJP did not field senior leader DV Sadananda Gowda from Bengaluru North this time, leading the former chief minister to retire from electoral politics. Instead, Shobha Karandlaje, the BJP MP from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru was brought to Bengaluru North. Karandlaje was conducted multiple election rallies in Bengaluru North, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also participated in the election campaign in this constituency.

Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded Rajeev Gowda, an economist and former IIM-Bangalore professor, to take on the BJP in Bengaluru North. Gowda has been campaigning across Bengaluru North, and he even promised to present a potential solution to the ongoing water crisis. This is his first time contesting in the Lok Sabha elections and he was a Rajya Sabha member. 

The results of the Lok Sabha polls will be announced on June 4.