M Lakshman, A Commoner To Face BJP Royal Candidate In Mysore
Congress gave ticket to an engineer turned politician against the BJP royal family scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar in the Mysore constituency for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. The constituency will go to the election on April 26, 2024.
M Lakshman is said to be rooted in the ethos of the Mysuru-Kodagu region as he had represented several social causes there as an activist for more than 20 years.
The Congress candidate showed a unique way of campaigning and came out with his manifesto listing out his priorities for the development of the constituency. Under the manifesto, he promised to restore the heritage buildings securing Rs 3000 crore for the projects, ensure solving the problems of farmers, ensure reasonable prices for crops, research centre for agriculture, construct of airstrip to boost tourism and increase railway connectivity, and promote sports, develop IT hub and healthcare need of the people. He said to be available to the public for 24*7 to hear grievances.
This year, BJP dropped its two-time winning MP Pratap Simha to bring the royal face in Mysore. Mr Simha had won the 2014 and 2019 elections by defeating the Congress candidates by over 31,000 votes and 1.38 lakh votes respectively.
Mr Simha was under fire in last December as the security breach incident in the Parliament led to a standoff between the government and opposition parties as the two of the intruders entered the Lok Sabha using passes signed by the former Mysore MP. The opposition had then demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House and action against Pratap Simha.
The constituency comprises of Madikeri, Virajpet, Periyapatna, Hunasuru, Chamundeshwari, Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, and Narasimharaja assembly segments. Out of 8 seats 5 seats are occupied by the INC in the state. The constituency had been a Congress stronghold in the past however for the last two general elections BJP has been given MP to the lower house from Mysore.
It is a general category seat with a 67.65% literacy rate. The SC, ST, and Muslim populations in the region are 16.75%, 10.95% and 11.2% respectively.
