The Hindu : Karnataka News : Stressed out politicians take a vacation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Stressed out politicians take a vacation

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, APRIL 27. The political atmosphere in the State has cooled down considerably with the completion of the two-phase elections to the 14th Lok Sabha and the 12th Legislative Assembly. It was holiday mood in the headquarters of major political parties as office-bearers and leaders went out on picnics with their families. They could take their children along as they are on summer vacations.

Some of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers were found playing a friendly cricket match at the party's election office, "Panchavati," on Platform Road in Seshadripuram. Many of them had missed the telecasts of the India - Pakistan Test and one-day internationals as they were busy campaigning. It is another thing that the BJP claimed credit for reviving the cricketing ties with the neighbouring country.

Peace, orderliness, and silence reigned at the Congress Bhavan, the Janata Dal (Secular) State headquarters, which is the original Congress Bhavan, as also the BJP's election office. No doubt that compared to the Congress and the Janata Dal (S), the BJP maintained orderliness at the election office even at the height of the scramble for the party nomination. The President of the State BJP unit, H.N. Ananth Kumar, has left for Sholapur in Maharashtra to worship at a temple.

At the Janata Dal (S) headquarters, even some of the press conferences addressed by the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, used to turn into public meetings as a large number of the party workers used to gatecrash to the conference hall. After some protests from journalists, the workers were pushed out.

The people who used to throng "Anugraha," the official residence of the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, were absent today.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee held the last of its election-related press conferences today and even levelled allegations against the BJP, as if as a parting shot. But the BJP did not reply to the last salvo of the Congress. Perhaps, it will bid for some time to do so. .

However, the excruciating 17-day wait to know the results of the elections is expected to tell on the contestants and their supporters. The countdown for the day of reckoning has already begun. Many of the candidates and party leaders have planned pilgrimages to maintain some equanimity.

All thought now is on factors such as safety of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the elections. Some candidates are even bedevilled by the thought of the EVMs being tampered with to favour particular candidates or parties. This is a throwback to 1971 when the then Bharatiya Jan Sangh President, Balraj Madhok, alleged that the ballot papers had been chemically treated to erase votes cast in favour of non-Congress candidates.

The Congress, the BJP, and the Janata Dal (S) have thanked the people for voting for them in the elections and also their party workers who strove for the success of the candidates. The political atmosphere in the State had heated up much before the announcement of the dates for the elections. In fact, this can be traced to the success of the BJP in the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chattisgarh held in the last quarter of 2003. The State Congress leaders, particularly B. Janardhana Poojary, had been warning that the BJP would advance the dates of the Lok Sabha elections to cash in on the popularity achieved in the Northern States. "We are ready for elections" was his refrain and in fact, Mr. Poojary even started speaking of the early dissolution of the State Assembly, even as the Chief Minister remained non-committal about it.

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