P C Mohan has emerged as the winner again from Bangalore Central parliamentary constituency, scoring a hat-trick.

Bangalore Central comprises eight assembly constituencies – Rajajinagar, Chamrajpet, Gandhinagar, Shivajinagar, Shantinagar, Sarvagnanagar, CV Raman Nagar and Mahadevapura. The majority of voters in this constituency are linguistic and religious minorities. Large slums, the Central Business District, gated communities in newer areas like Bellandur and Whitefield, are all part of Bangalore Central.

The voter turnout in the constituency was only 45.34 percent this election. Mohan won the seat with 50.35 percent of the vote share, which accounted for over six lakh votes. Rizwan Arshad of the Congress, who had contested against Mohan in 2014 too, came a close second again this time, with 44.34 percent votes. Actor and activist Prakash Raj came third, with a mere 2.41 percent votes.

Here are candidates who got the most votes, as per data from the Election Commission of India:

Background

Mohan had started his political career in 1993 with the BJP. In 1996, he contested the Lok Sabha election from Chikkaballapura constituency, and lost. He contested the state assembly elections later, and remained an MLA from Chickpet assembly constituency from 1999 to 2008. In 2007, he was appointed the State Treasurer of BJP.

In 2009, he was elected as a Lok Sabha MP for the first time, from Bangalore Central constituency. He won from the constituency again in 2014. He was appointed the BJP State Vice President in 2018.

During his previous term (2014-19), Mohan had supported the citizens’ movement in Whitefield against Graphite India Ltd that was polluting the area. Mohan has used Rs 23.9 cr out of the Rs 25 cr fund available to him under the MPLADS (MP Local Area Development Scheme), mainly for:

• Road widening at Carmelaram railway crossing
• Construction of ITPL halt station and overbridge between KR Puram and Whitefield railway stations
• LED street lights and CCTV cameras at Banaswadi
• Providing water and building toilets at schools, hospitals etc

Mohan’s Facebook and Twitter feeds show very few of his own posts. He has mostly shared/retweeted posts by former Primer Minister Modi. In his original posts, Mohan has mostly criticised the Congress government in Karnataka.

As per Mohan’s website, he hails from a business family in Bengaluru. He has sanitary retail shops and real estate dealerships across the city. Mohan has studied till the 12th standard. There are no pending criminal cases against him. He has declared assets of over Rs 75 crore and liabilities of Rs 32 cr.

Promises and plans

In a recent interview to The Hindu, Mohan said, “I will ensure that the suburban rail project is implemented. It is expected to ferry up to 35 lakh people and bring traffic down by 25%. My other focus areas are expansion of Namma Metro to the airport, the Smart City project, and lake development under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) programme.”

In an interview to Citizen Matters in 2009, he had said, “I would like to concentrate on infrastructure, then public amenities and environmental issues. These are the three issues I would like to concentrate for my constituency.”

In a 2014-19 ‘Report Card’ that Mohan prepared on himself, he says ,“I have proposed and supported a movement for a separate Master Plan for Mahadevapura zone. This vast constituency is the country’s tech hub and is the highest employment generating area in Bengaluru, but with very poor infrastructure. A separate master plan for the area can help it develop in an organised manner and meet the needs of the fast-growing locality.”

See also: P C Mohan’s MP Profile, 2014-19

Watch an interview with PC Mohan by Rohit Gharabude, a freelance political reporter: