Bengaluru: With the resignation of Shivajinagar MLA, R Roshan Baig, long associated with the Congress before he shifted loyalty to the BJP to help bring down the coalition government in the state in July, the Congress, BJP and Janata Dal (S) are all now vying for the considerable Muslim vote in the constituency as it heads for the December bypoll .
Mr Baig had firmly established himself in the Muslim -dominated constituency and with his resignation , the Congress has lost a veteran leader it could bank on in Shivajinagar which has 91,000 Muslim votes, only slightly lesser in number than its one lakh Hindu votes.
While wards like Shivajinagar, Halasur, Bharathinagar and Jayamahal have a larger number of Muslim voters, Sampangiramnagar, Vasanth Nagar and Ramaswamy Palya have a greater number of Hindu voters. On the face of it, the Congress still has the advantage with five corporators in the constituency, unlike the BJP, which has only one. The saffron party needs around 10,000 Muslim votes or at least a division of this number to win from the constituency.
But even with Mr Baig on its side, it may not find it smooth sailing as it is divided on fielding him in the bypoll. While Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is reportedly backing him for the ticket, the Sangh Parivar and the party have other plans as they have for long attacked the disqualified MLA on various issues and are finding it hard to suddenly change their tune and field him in the bypoll.
Instead, the party has suggested that Mr Baig's son , Rehan Baig should contest as an independent with the BJP's support, according to sources.
It is also reportedly considering fielding senior BJP leader, Nirmal Kumar Surana, who had lost lost twice to Mr Baig in previous elections in the constituency. This time, it believes, he could win if the former MLA campaigns for him, say sources, adding that a final decision could be taken in a day or two.
The Congress also appears undecided on its candidate for Shivajinagar. While former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and KPCC president, Dinesh Gundurao have picked MLC, Rizwan Arshad and forwarded his name to the party high command, they are facing opposition from the “original” Congressmen like B K Hariprasad, Veerappa Moily, K H Muniyappa and others, going by sources.
These leaders argue that Mr Arshad has been given several chances to contest assembly and parliamentary elections, and it is time to give an opportunity to other leaders now.
They are said to be pitching for Mr Rahaman Sharief, grandson of the late former Union Minister, Jaffer Sharief.
Meanwhile, the JD(S), which has repeatedly failed to make a mark in the constituency since 1994, has decided to field its national spokesman, Tanveer Ahamed from it.
Although an outsider, Mr Ahamed hopes to cut into both the Muslim and Hindu votebanks of the Congress and BJP. But he has his job cut out for him as the Hindu and Muslim votes are consolidated against each other here and the constituency always sees tactical voting.
Also, with hardly any Vokkaligas in the constituency, who constitute the votebank of the JD(S), its prospects here seem lukewarm at best.
