The Hindu : Karnataka News : Bypoll candidates focus on `padayatra'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Bypoll candidates focus on `padayatra'

T.S. Ranganna

Campaigning picks up; Ambarish confident of Congress victory in Chamarajpet

R.V. Devaraj

BANGALORE: The candidates in the Chamarajpet Assembly by-elections have given a go-by to public meetings. Sensing the mood of voters, the candidates are resorting to the more effective door-to-door campaign.

The constituency has a mixture of all kinds of voters. A majority of the voters, numbering around 30,000, live in 12 slums.

Pramil Nesargi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), R.V. Devaraj of the Congress, and Zameer Ahmad Khan of the Janata Dal (Secular) are all trekking every day seeking votes for the June 2 election. The Chamarajpet seat fell vacant following the resignation of S.M. Krishna on his appointment as the Governor of Maharashtra.

Pramila Nesargi

Ms. Nesargi visited Sudhamanagar slums and attended street corner meetings on Monday. The former Union Minister and MP, Basanagouda Patil, accompanied her. Mr. Devaraj, for whom touring the constituency is a routine programme, was campaigning most part of the day. The Mandya Congress MP and filmstar, Ambarish, who had attended a muhurat of the Kannada film, Shardoola, on J.C. Road, later participated in a "padayatra" along with Mr. Devaraj. Mr. Ambarish told The Hindu that he is confident of Mr. Devaraj winning the seat for the third time. Asked whether fielding of Muslim candidates by the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Samajavadi Party (Shariyar Khan) will divide the Congress vote, Mr. Ambarish said the support of Muslims to the party is intact.

Mr. Devaraj said he has constituted 400 groups of Congress workers and party sympathisers who have branched out to all booths and are actively campaigning for him. He said he had completed development works on which the Government spent Rs. 400 crores in the last five years in the constituency. All the roads in Mavalli, Bade Makan, Anandapura and the Bamboo Bazar have been asphalted.

The KPCC President, B. Janardhana Poojary, addressed a meeting at Anandapura slum.

Zameer Ahmad Khan

Demolition threat

Ms. Nesargi alleged that many properties in the constituency will be demolished when road widening is taken up, resulting in huge losses to the residents. Apart from this, ancient temples such as those of Dharmaraya Swamy and Bhadrakali will be razed. Her campaign manager, B.N. Vijaya Kumar, said the BJP has taken it as a challenge and has deputed 30 MLAs and six MPs for election work.

The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, and the former Union Minister, Sushma Swaraj, will address public meetings on May 27 and May 30 respectively, he said.

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