K Gopinath, the sitting MLA from the Congress party, will face tough competition from P. Balakrishnan of the AIADMK this time, in Hosur, a border constituency with sizable Telugu- and Kanna-speaking populations.

According to government data, there are nearly 2.9 lakh voters in the constituency. Majority of the population in Hosur speaks Telugu. About 20 percent speak Kannada. Illiteracy and unemployment are rampant in the constituency. Agriculture is the main source of employment. The district is currently plagued by water shortage.

Since its creation in 1967, Hosur saw 11 state assembly elections, with the Congress winning seven of them.

Gopinath belongs to the Telugu community. His claim to fame was the fact that he repeatedly raised queries in the Tamil Nadu state assembly in Telugu. Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa replied to his questions in the same language too.

If he wins, this will be Gopinath’s third ticket to the state assembly. During the previous state assembly elections, Gopinath’s No.1 rival was S. John Timothy of the DMDK, whom he defeated by more than 10,000 votes. The AIADMK candidate, P. Balakrishnan, too belongs to the Telugu-speaking community. In fact, the candidates of all the leading parties belong to the dominant group.

Voters of certain pockets in Hosur, including Balagondarayanadurgam, Baliganapalli, and Berigai, strongly support Gopinath because he had succeeded in making the Karnataka government release water in Kelavarapalli dam. But the water shortage persists in other parts of the constituency. One of Gopinath’s biggest promises is to supply water to each and every household through pipelines, from many unused lakes in the vicinity.