Ananth Kumar wants Bangalore South again

Having achieved a hattrick in the Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency, BJP's Karnataka unit chief HN Ananth Kumar is seeking to make it four times in a row.

Having achieved a hattrick in the prestigeous Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency, BJP's Karnataka unit chief HN Ananth Kumar is seeking to make it four times in a row in a triangular contest involving a city real estate magnate and a heroine of yesteryear.

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Observers believe Congress' candidate M Krishnappa, who is nicknamed as "Layout" Krishnappa for his commercial forays into the lucrative real estate business, and "glamour lady" Jayanthi (JD-S) have an uphill task to match upto 44-year-old Kumar.

The Congress tried hard till the last minute to put up a "strong candidate" against Kumar and the party even lobbied to have Priyanka Vadra to contest from here and also wooed popular Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan but without success.

The ruling party in Karnataka then settled for a "resourceful" Krishnappa, a member of the Legislative Council and a Vokkaliga, the community which accounts for an estimated 40 per cent of the electorate along with Brahmins.

The BJP camp believes the largely-middle-class electorate would back the party and the "Vajpayee factor" would be pronounced in a constituency having a high number of literate population.