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Bangalore:Can Ananth Kumar withstand a challenge from Nandan Nilekani?

By Oneindia Staff Writer

| Updated: Thursday, September 19, 2013, 18:05 [IST]

Bangalore, Sept 18: Bangalore was buzzing with the news that Infosys co-founder and chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani could contest the 2014 Lok Sabha election on the Congress's ticket. If sources are to be believed then Nilekani, who played a key role in the UPA government's ambitious Aadhaar programme, will contest from prestigious South Bangalore seat which is a stronghold of sitting BJP MP and one of the top party leaders from these parts, Ananth Kumar.

Kumar is a five-time MP from Bangalore South. Despite Kumar's previous victorious records, experts believe that he may not withstand Nilekani this time. Congress seems to have been aiming to tap the 'techie vote-bank'. Nilekani is an extremely popular figure in the IT community.

Deteriorating popularity of Ananth Kumar:

Kumar's deteriorating popularity might be proved as a disaster for BJP. The party had received a hint on Kumar's popularity among Bangaloreans when Narendra Modi had visited the city to campaign for BJP ahead of Karnataka assembly polls in which BJP lost power to Congress. The Gujarat CM had travelled to Bangalore to address a huge crowd gathered at National College grounds in Basavangudi on April 28, 2013.

Kumar had gone through a shameful experience when the crowd did not even allow the local MP to deliver his speech. Kumar was forced to leave the podium amidst chant of "Modi". It was the Gujarat CM who had urged the crowd to listen to Kumar. Narendra Modi had pleaded the crowd to allow kumar to speak. Modi had said, "I will be with you as long as you want but allow Ananth Kumar and Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to speak." [Watch Video: Embarassing moment 4 Anant Kumar,Bangalore crowd reject him]

Projection v/s Popular votes, a wait and watch:

Kumar won the assembly polls from Bangalore South constituency for five consecutive times. On the contrary, Nilekani would be a newcomer in the field of politics if he indeed accepts Congress's proposal of contesting from this constituency.

Given such circumstances, what are the chances of Kumar winning the elections here:

1. As per India Votes, Assembly Constituency (AC) to Parliamentary Contituency (PC) projections in 2013 shows that Congress is leading by 56,627 votes than BJP. The lead margin was 5.7 per cent.

Constituencies Congress BJP

Govindarajanagar 72,654 30,194

Vijayanagar 39,358 44,249

Chickpet 44,714 31,655

Basavangudi 21,588 43,883

Padmanabhanagar 33,557 53,680

BTM Layout 69,712 20,664

Jayanagar 31,678 43,990

Bomanahhalli 60,700 86,552

Looking at each constituency in Bangalore South, BJP's projections are high as compared to Congress. However, the college ground incident indicate otherwise. Social media like Twitter and Facebook (projections to be provided later) also project Nilekani as a winner.

Right now, it is a wait and watch situation as popular vote may vary this time, depending on how many BJP supporters actually choose to vote Nilekani.

Oneindia Opinion Poll shows people prefer Anil Kumble over Ananth Kumar to contest against Nandan Nilekani:

Oneindia conducted a poll asking its readers -- Who should BJP field against Nandan Nilekani in Bangalore South? While 51 per cent voted for former Team India bowler Kumble, 22 per cent voted for none. Surprisingly, only 27 per cent voted for Kumar. It seems that people have lost confidence in Kumar.

How Social Media reacted over news in Nilekani:

Micro-blogging site Twitter was abuzzed with news on Nilekani contesting poll on Congress ticket. Many people turned up to Twitter and expressed the opinions and suggestions. Here are some instances how the twipples reacted over the news: