AAP blooming in Cong stalwart's terrain?

A melting pot of different cultures , dotted with churches, mosques and temples, Bengaluru east with its colonial architecture, a quaint railway station,  bus stands and parks is also  home to the  high profile Sarvagnanagar constituency  represented by none other than Bengaluru Development Minister, K. J. George himself. 

While he is clearly hoping to retain his seat these coming Assembly polls, his challengers from other parties have not been announced as yet expect for Mr   Prithvi Reddy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The advantage  Mr George enjoys here is that Bengaluru east is relatively better planned in accordance with modern hygienic standards, proper drains and conservancy lanes. One of its best surburbs is Cox Town.  Well planned, posh and a preferred suburb of Bangalore Cantonment, created during the British Raj,  it is bound by the Bengaluru-Madras Railway line on the North and East, Wheeler Road in the East and the Ulsoor Polo Ground in the South 

Like  other suburbs in Bengaluru east, Cox  Town has a large Tamil speaking population, that traces its ancestry to the large number of Tamil soldiers, suppliers and workers who were brought to the Bangalore Civil and Military Station by the British Army after the fall of Tipu Sultan. Along with other suburbs of the Bengaluru Cantonement, Cox Town was directly under the administration of the British Madras Presidency till 1949 when it was handed over to the Mysore state.

The large Tamil population co-exists peacefully with Anglo-Indians and other communities, making it a heaven of sorts for people of the city.

 But even so  the constituency, which has seen white topping and  black topping of roads in recent months and some work on its drains and water filter units,   hasn’t received the attention befitting a  part of the city represented by a powerful Minister, says Mr D. S. Rajshekar, president of the  Citizens’ Action Forum (CAF) ,who lives in the area.

“As a voter I can point out a number of problems here. Although a few residents came up with  solutions for the overall development of the constituency they were ignored. So till today narrow roads and lack of proper connectivity  haunts the constituency,” he deplores.

“Affordable healthcare is missing for the poor and labour class. Lakes are ignored so much that it is the citizens themselves who are fighting the encroachers and squatters and not the law makers and public representatives. And although the area is very close to the seat of power, Vidhana Soudha , it hardly gets Cauvery water twice a week,” he rues.

But Mr Mukesh T,  who also lives in the area, believes that no constituency can be transformed into a super constituency overnight or in a few years. “It needs constant effort. Mr. George has been instrumental in getting some of the long pending projects completed and providing  more lung space,” he says.