Thursday, Jun 16, 2005
Thursday, Jun 16, 2005 |
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Special Correspondent
SHIMOGA: Even before the dust raised by the Shimoga Lok Sabha byelection has settled, leaders of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have accused each other of having employed unfair means to woo voters. What triggered the controversy was the remark by the Congress candidate, Ayanur Manjunath, minutes after the votes were counted on June 6 that his defeat at the hands of the Samajwadi Party candidate, S. Bangarappa, was caused by the "distribution of money and liquor." Stoutly denying the allegation, Mr. Bangarappa made a counter-allegation that it was the Congress that distributed money and liquor because of which his winning margin was not as high as it should have been. The matter would have ended there but for the Congress leader and former Minister Kagodu Thimmappa threatening to file a defamation case against Mr. Bangarappa if he did not withdraw his allegation that the Congress had distributed money and liquor to voters. Taking exception to the reported threat by Mr. Thimmappa, Mr. Bangarappa said, "I will get a defamation case filed against him (Mr. Thimmappa) by the people who reportedly were witness to it [distribution of money and liquor]." Taking a cue from their leader, local office-bearers of the Samajwadi Party have said that the voters themselves will file a defamation case against Mr. Thimmappa because they consider his remarks on the distribution of money and liquor as an insult to them. The two parties, which have not been able to garner more than 30 per cent of the votes polled, are engaged in a mud-slinging campaign instead of making an objective analysis of their performance. There has been a marked change in the voters' preference this time compared to the 2004 election going by the votes polled by Mr. Bangarappa and Mr. Manjunath, who were the main rivals in the two elections. While Mr. Bangarappa polled more votes than Mr. Manjunath in Holehonnur, Shimoga, Tirthahalli, Hosnagar, Sagar and Shikaripur though trailing in his home base of Sorab, Mr. Manjunath polled more votes in Bhadravati and Sorab segments in the 2004 election. However, in the 2005 byelection, while Mr. Bangarappa polled more votes in Shimoga, Hosnagar, Sorab and Shikaripur, Mr. Manjunath led in Holehonnur, Bhadravati, Tirthahalli and Sagar. The BJP candidate, M.B. Bhanu Prakash, failed to register a lead even in the four Assembly segments of Shikaripur, Shimoga, Tirthahalli and Holehonnur which are held by prominent leaders of the party: the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, B.S. Yediyurappa; the State BJP Vice-President, K.S. Eshwarappa; Araga Jnanendra; and the former Minister G. Basavannappa respectively.
Poll postponement
The postponement of the elections to the zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats could not have come at a more opportune time for the Congress and the BJP considering the battering they received in the Lok Sabha byelection.
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