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Why is Tumakuru a better bet for Gowda than Bengaluru North?

Even the caste combination is in favour of the JD(S) and Congress in the constituency.

Bengaluru: While Chief Minister Mr H D Kumaraswamy still maintains that JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is in a dilemma over contesting the forthcoming elections, the indications are that Mr Gowda is heading the Tumakuru way.

On Thursday, Mr Kumaraswamy said that Mr Gowda will contest either from Bengaluru North or Tumakuru. After Hassan and Mandya, the JD(S) has always fared well in Tumakuru district. Even now, it has three MLAs, while in Pavagada, it lost by a narrow margin of only 500 votes. In Chikkanayakanahalli, the divide in the Vokkaliga vote and minority consolidation against the JD(S) helped the BJP win.

Even the caste combination is in favour of the JD(S) and Congress in the constituency. Though the BJP managed to win the parliamentary seat a couple of times, its performance has not been consistent. Unlike Bengaluru North, which has over six lakh Vokkaliga voters, Tumakuru has a large number of rural voters, who are not likely to be swayed by nationalistic slogans. The only Lingayat dominated area in Tumakuru district is Tiptur constituency.

While in Hassan and Mandya, Congress and JD(S) workers nurse a grudge against each other, in Tumakuru, their ties are much more cordial. The sitting Congress MP Muddahanume Gowda, though hurt over being deprived of the ticket, is unlikely to nurse a grudge against anyone which Mr Gowda knows quite well. Besides, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar, though miffed with former CM Siddaramaiah's move to give away Tumakuru to retain Mysuru, his home bastion, enjoys a good rapport with Mr Gowda.

Morever, there are only a few disgruntled elements in the Congress like former Madhugiri MLA K.N. Rajanna and former Tumakuru MLA Dr Rafeeq Ahamed.

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