Pre-election promises in Hebbal constituency remain unfulfilled

Elections Karnataka Politics

Water crisis, drainage and garbage still a persistent problem in the area, say residents.

Residents of Hebbal constituency complain about unfulfilled promises by the present Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Byrathi Suresh. However  they said that he might come back to power with the help of new monetary promises made to the economically weaker sections.

Deepti, a resident of Nagashettyhalli in Hebbal constituency said that this area has garbage and drainage problem. Last time before coming to power, the Congress MLA had promised to clean the drains and garbage, but not much has been done.

She added , “There is a possibility of him being re-elected as he promised to distribute money to the poor as last time.”

Economically Weaker Sections in the Dollar Colony, Hebbal Constituency said would be distributed land if the elected BJP to power.

Rama Krishna, a retired state government employee said that there is a shortage of drinking water in the area.  “The corporation water comes once in two days and the localities situated on higher altitude receive very less water. They hadpromised us to solve the issue but did nothing,” he added.

He further said, “They also promised to clean the clogged drains. You can see posters of this MLA everywhere but no work has been done.”

However, Muthuraj a local Congress worker from the MLA office, in charge of one of the 36 booths in the ward, said that there is a shortage of clean drinking water in this area since a long time and Byrathi Suresh has taken several initiatives to tackle these  issues. “He installed Rs. 5 RO purified drinking water taps and built more than 50 bore wells in the constituency,” he added.

He said that, the present MLA has also helped the economically weaker sections during COVID-19, he distributed ration kits and television sets  to the poor. Suresh has also established two dialysis centers in RT Nagar.

Hebbal constituency

YearWinnerVoters polledVote shareRunnerVoters polledVoter share
2018Byrathi Suresh INC74,453,51%Y A Narayanaswamy BJP53,31336%
2013R Jagdeesh Kumar BJP38,16254%C.K. Abdul Rahman Sharief INC  33,02646%
2008Katta Subramanya Naidu BJP46,70853%H.M. Revanna41,75747%

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) reports states, Hebbal constituency is spread over  11.27 sq.kms. There are eight wards and 246 polling stations in this constituency. As on January 2023, there are 1,37,751 male voters and 1,31,805 female voters. The voter turnout was 54.98 percent in 2018 elections.

MLA Suresh’s declared assets are worth Rs. 648.85 crore as of April 20, while submitting the nomination papers. Suresh’s assets value increased by Rs. 232.08 crore in five years. In 2018, his assets were worth Rs. 416.68 crore.

MLA office in Hebbal Constituency

Kamala, a domestic worker who has been staying in the Dollars colonyfor 15 years said that if the BJP candidate Katta Jagadish comes to power, he has promised to give sites to build houses. “The Congress didn’t help us much. However, there is a greater possibility of Byrathi Suresh getting elected again as he has been there since a long time now,” she added.

Speaking about the opposition, Muthuraj said that the BJP MLA Katta Jagadish who is contesting in Hebbal  , has many criminal charges against him including grabbing lands of poor people and not giving them their money.

He added that in Hebbal constituency people trust the Congress MLA as he has done a lot of work. As 40 percent of the residents in the constituency belong to minority community, whom the Congress catered to, there is a high chance of Byrathi Suresh gettingre-elected.