Lack of development in the Krishnaraja (KR) Puram constituency has made the people hesitant to vote for the Assembly elections of Karnataka, 2023.
Residents of KR Puram feel that voting and electing candidates in the upcoming assembly elections of Karnataka, 2023 does not help them in any way.
Prabhavathi, a resident of Vijinapura said that she has not voted for a long time now even though she holds a voter ID for the ward. “I am not going to vote this year as well,” she said. The 37-year-old added that she has yet to reap any benefits from the current government in power. “I have been living here for almost 10 years now but there have been no changes in the area.”
Another fellow resident, Srinivasa agreed that this area had remained the way it is now for quite a while now. He added that water is available only three days a week. They have to store water in large drums for their use.
The MLA for this constituency, B. A. Basavaraj, was re-elected twice since the 2013 assembly elections. In July 2019, B. A. Basavaraj resigned from the Congress party and shifted to BJP. In 2018, Basavaraj won the elections with a margin of 32,729 votes.
Dhanaraj Pillai has been living in this constituency for the past 20 years. He runs a clothing and jewellery shop in Ramamurthy Nagar. Dhanaraj said, “The main problem is water. We do not have a proper water supply. Politicians are now coming for election campaigns and promising to solve the issue but nothing is getting solved.”
However, N Manjula and Vanaja at the Bangalore Uttara Mahila Morcha said that the government has been doing an excellent job with development. They added that government schools are being developed and they have no problems at all. Vanaja said, “Water is not at all a problem. We receive water twice a week.”
Water is not the only problem in Vijinapura. Prabhavathi said that the area is not adequately cleaned. Pourakarmikas tend to drop bags on the street and then it becomes a common spot to throw garbage for others as well. “Sometimes we pay to have the garbage bags removed because they keep accumulating,” She continued, “Yesterday we had to clean a rat that was lying dead in the compound next door because nothing was being done about it. We could not ignore it because we are running a food stall right next to it.”
