Bangalore Rural (parliamentary constituency number 23) comprises eight assembly constituencies – Anekal, Kunigal, Magadi, Ramanagaram, Kanakapura, Channapatna, Bangalore South and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Bangalore South assembly constituency, comprising wards like Yelachenahalli, Begur and Anjanapura, should not be confused with the Bangalore South parliamentary constituency.

Not yet in its teens, Bangalore Rural constituency was created during the delimitation in 2008. The current chief minister of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S), was the first MP to be elected from this constituency, in 2009. Since 2013, D K Suresh of Congress has been the MP here.

The demography of the constituency is largely rural. However, Bangalore South and Rajarajeshwari Nagar have a fair number of people working in the city’s IT sector.

Find out which wards come under Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituency

According to the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, as of 16th January, the constituency had a total of 24,55,926 voters – 12,67,379 male, 11,88,207 female and 340 others.

[flexiblemap src=”http://data.opencity.in/Data/Karnataka-Parliament-Constituency-Bangalore-Rural-Map-V-1.kml” width=”100%” height=”400px” ]

Note – Map for representation purpose | Source – http://datameet.org

Fifteen candidates are contesting from Bengaluru Rural this time. Nine represent political parties, while the remaining six are independents. The profile of candidates is highly varied. Their education levels range from 8th standard to PhD. Livelihood-wise, there are farmers, farm labourers, social activists, lawyers, businessmen, and retired government servants. Find the links to their affidavits and other details towards the end of this article.

Election Commission of India (ECI) had rejected four nominations from this constituency,  and three candidates had withdrawn their nominations. One woman is contesting from the constituency this time, as opposed to none in the  2014 election.

Know your candidates

D K Suresh

Pic: https://twitter.com/DKSureshINC

D K Suresh, the incumbent MP of Bangalore Rural constituency, is contesting again on a Congress ticket from here. He was first elected to this seat in a by-election in 2013, after H D Kumaraswamy resigned as the MP here. Suresh was elected a second time in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

• Age: 52 years
• Education: Higher Secondary School
• Background: Businessman and social worker; Brother of D K Shivakumar
• Voter in: Kanakapura assembly constituency
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DKSuresh.official/
• Twitter: @DKSureshINC
• Instagram: D K Suresh
• Email: dksuresh10@gmail.com
• Phone: 9845029142
• Pending criminal cases: Five. Charges have not been framed in any of the cases.
  • FOC 24/2011-12: Accused of erecting electrical lines in a reserved forest area. Case filed as per Section 24 of Karnataka Forest Act, 1963.
  • FOC 115/2006-07, FOC 37/2006-07, FOC 35/2006-07, FOC 28/2006-06: Accused of quarrying in reserved forest land. Cases filed as per Section 41(2) of Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969, and Section 104 of Karnataka Forest Act, 1963.

Assets and liabilities

Over the past five years, Suresh’s assets have increased by 294 percent while his liabilities have gone up by 182 percent.

Find details of Suresh’s performance in the current term (2014-2019), including attendance, debates participated in and questions asked, here.

           ☛ Citizen Matters’ profile of D K Suresh: Click here

Ashwathnarayana

Pic: https://business.facebook.com/ashwathnarayan06/

Ashwathnarayana, aka Ashwath Narayana Gowda, is BJP’s candidate for Bangalore Rural. A former MLC from Mandya and currently a BJP spokesperson, he is also an agriculturist and businessman.

• Age: 59 years
• Education: SSLC
• Background: Agriculturist and businessman. Was MLC from 2010 to 2016
• Voter in: Vijayanagara assembly constituency
• Email: ashwathnarayanamlc@gmail.com
• Phone: 9980091587; 9482411587
• Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/ashwathnarayan06/
• Pending criminal cases: Two
  • CC 2269/2017 before Prl. Civil Judge and JMFC, Mandya. It was alleged that Ashwathnarayana, along with 40-50 BJP workers, formed an unlawful assembly and held a protest without permission, seeking dismissal of PSI Bhuvitha, and obstructed public way.
  • LGC(P) 437/2018, Land Grabbing Court, Bengaluru. The case was filed on the allegation that Ashwathnarayana, without land conversion and approval from authorities, sold a site to the complainant.

Assets and liabilities

Full list of candidates

2014 Lok Sabha election

In the 2014 election, there were  nearly 22 lakh registered voters in the constituency – 11.3 lakh men, 10.5 lakh women and 261 others. Of them, 14.5 lakh (66.45 percent) cast their votes. This included 7.5 lakh men, 6.9 lakh women, 12 others, and 607 postal voters.

Of the 15 contesting candidates, 12 forfeited their deposits. The incumbent MP D K Suresh of INC won from the constituency with over 45 percent votes. The runner-up Muniraju Gowda of BJP could secure only 29 percent votes.

Source: http://www.ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/PCELE2019/ELECTION%20STATISTICS-2014.pdf