Mahalakshmi Layout by-election: Info on candidates, constituency and more

K Gopalaiah, the JD(S) candidate who was elected in the 2018 election, is now back as the BJP candidate. He will face off against corporator M Shivaraju (INC) and chartered accountant Dr Girish K Nashi (JD(S))

The MLA seat in Mahalakshmi Layout constituency had become vacant after K Gopalaiah, the Janata Dal (Secular) MLA here, resigned to join the BJP. This had been a rude shock to the ruling JD(S)-Congress alliance, which had considered this a ‘safe’ seat in Bengaluru. K Gopalaiah had wrested the constituency from INC in 2013 and won again in 2018. This by-election, he’s contesting from the constituency as the BJP candidate.

Know your candidates

Twelve candidates are contesting from Mahalakshmi Layout constituency. Three other candidates had withdrawn their nominations, and three others’ were rejected.

Following are the major candidates:

M Shivaraju

Party: Indian National Congress

  • Family: Spouse and two dependants
  • Educational qualification: BA
  • Profession: Business, Councillor of Shankarmutt ward (75)
  • Online:
  • Pending criminal cases: Nil
  • Net worth
    • Total assets: Rs 3.72 crore
    • Movable assets: Rs 73.77 lakh
    • Immovable assets: Rs 2.98 crore
    • Liabilities: Rs 94.81 lakh
K Gopalaiah

Party: Bharatiya Janata Party

 

  • Family: Spouse and two dependants
  • Educational qualification: B Sc
  • Profession: Social worker
  • Online:
  • Pending criminal cases: Nil
  • Net worth
    • Total assets: Rs 16.98 crore
    • Movable assets: Rs 5.19 crore
    • Immovable assets: 11.79 crore
    • Liabilities: Rs 7.05 crore
Dr Girish K Nashi

Party: Janata Dal (Secular)

 

  • Family: Spouse and two dependants
  • Educational qualifications: B Com, FCA, Phd
  • Profession: Chartered Accountant
  • Online:
  • Pending criminal cases: Nil
  • Net worth
    • Total assets: Rs 31.29 crore
    • Movable assets: Rs 4.14 crore
    • Immovable assets: Rs 27.15 crore
    • Liabilities: Rs 16.04 crore
Vatal Nagaraj

Party: Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha

  • Family: Spouse
  • Educational Qualifications: SSLC
  • Profession: Social worker
  • Pending criminal cases: Nil
  • Net worth
    • Total assets: Rs 6.5 crore
    • Movable assets: Rs 12.60 lakh
    • Immovable assets: Rs 6.43 crore
    • Liabilities: Rs 4.8 lakh

Tracking Mahalakshmi Layout MLA Gopalaiah (2018 pre-poll analysis)

Interview with Bangalore South candidate Vatal Nagaraj (2019 Lok Sabha election)

Full list of candidates

Candidate (Click on name for affidavit) Party Symbol
M SHIVARAJU, 44, BA, Businessman Indian National Congress Hand
K GOPALAIAH, 59, Social worker Bharatiya Janata Party Lotus
Dr GIRISH K NASHI , 62, Chartered Accountant Janata Dal (Secular) Lady Farmer carrying paddy on her head
R MURALI KUMAR , 27 Independent Television
M SHANKAR, 56, Mining Engineer Independent Truck
VENKATESH V, 46 Independent Coconut farm
N NARAYANASWAMY, 52, SSLC, Businessman Jai Vijaya Bharathi Party Pineapple
VATAL NAGARAJ, 70, SSLC, Social worker Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha Chappals
ASWATHA , 31 Independent Man blowing turha
VIJAYBHASKAR M, 43 Independent Sewing machine
GIRISH P, 35 Karnataka Rashtra Samithi Whistle
ASHA RANI V, 42 Uttama Prajaakeeya Party Autorickshaw

Results of 2018 election

In the last assembly election, K Gopalaiah of JD(S) won 88,218 votes in this constituency, or over 55 percent of the vote share. The runner-up, N L Narendra Babu of BJP, trailed far behind with just 47,118 votes (or 29.47 percent). Manjunatha S of INC stood third with 20,496 (12.8 percent) votes.

Name Sex Age Category Party General votes Postal votes Total votes % votes
K Gopalaiah M 57 General JD (S) 88,026 192 88,218 55.18
N L Narendra Babu M 56 General BJP 47,029 89 47,118 29.47
Manjunatha S M 28 General INC 20,470 26 20,496 12.82
NOTA NOTA 1738 1 1739 1.09

(Source: ECI)

About the Constituency

[flexiblemap src=”http://data.opencity.in/Data/Karnataka-Assembly-Constituency-156.kml” width=”100%” height=”400px” ]

Mahalakshmi Layout is considered the third largest residential layout in the city, following Jayanagar and Banashankari. Mahalakshmi Layout assembly constituency comprises six wards – Mahalakshmipuram, Nandini Layout, Geleyarabalaga, Nagapura, Kamalanagar and Vrishabhavathinagar.

In 2017, heavy rains lashed the area, killing five; the Vrishabhavathi valley flooded houses between Laggere and Yeshwanthpur, and garbage and sewage choked the area. Residents were furious, and accused the authorities of having done little to improve the area. After this, residents received a plethora of promises including upgradation of 23 of the 53 parks here. But not much seems to have been done. Due to fast growth, there has been an exodus of workers from Peenya to Nandini Layout and Mahalakshmipuram.

Total number of registered voters: 2,85,869

Registered voters in 2018 elections: 2,86,923

[Note: Number of registered voters has been updated based on ECI press release of 2.12.2019]

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