The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Of winners, losers and those who made a fast buck

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Of winners, losers and those who made a fast buck

By K.V. Subramanya

BANGALORE, MAY 13. Two-wheeler riders waving the party flag of the BJP took to the main thoroughfares of the city after election results started coming in by Thursday afternoon.

Earlier in the day crowds assembled near Maharani's College, Government Arts College and University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering where the counting of votes of the Bangalore North and Kanakapura Parliamentary constituencies and Assembly segments coming under them was going on.

Near Maharani's College, flag waving party activists anxiously awaited the score as each round of counting progressed.

Whenever the leads were announced, the supporters of the "leading parties" burst into loud cheers and lifted their ward level functionaries on their shoulders.

As the fortunes kept fluctuating, the expressions of party workers also changed.

At about 11.30 a.m., the BJP supporters, who had gathered near the Old Central Prison premises opposite the Maharani's College, turned jubilant over the victory of their party candidates.

They said the results showed the public resentment against the Congress legislators who had not bothered to visit their constituencies.

"Some of our neighbourhoods have become veritable slums and the member concerned of the dissolved Assembly never met us,'' they said.

Even before the results were officially announced, the BJP supporters were seen celebrating the victory of the party candidate from Yelahanka, C. Munikrishna.

However, he lost in the final count. This did not bring down their enthusiasm as the party candidates from Shivajinagar, Shanthinagar and Bharathinagar Assembly constituencies won and the Lok Sabha candidate from Bangalore North, the former police officer, H.T. Sangliana, was leading over his rivals.

At the Government Art's College, the Congress supporters burst crackers and cheered the victory of the journalist, Tejaswini Sriramesh, who emerged a giant killer by defeating the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, in Kankapura.

Mr. Gowda has won from the Hassan Lok Sabha Constituency.

Unhappy

Disappointment was writ on the faces of the Janata Dal (Secular) supporters, as the party could not win any Assembly or Lok Sabha seat in the city. They hurriedly rolled up the party flags and left the venue.

People were communicating the results and trends on mobile phones and discussing the final outcome and also the causes for the victory and defeat of the candidates.

Outside the counting centres, vendors of cucumber, pineapple, groundnut, ice candy, soft drink and buttermilk made some fast buck.

Some enterprising hoteliers had also set up mobile canteens.

While the Janata Dal (S) office off Race Course Road wore almost a deserted look, a sullen and silent crowd had gathered in front of the Congress office on the Queen's Road.

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