Karnataka   

When the name matters the most Poll tales

Trust the wily politicians to come out with poll strategies to ensure their win. And for the coming battle of the ballots the “divide and rule” policy has come in handy. Hence a few dummy candidates have been fielded and they sport the names of the leading “original candidates” in fray.

In Krishnaraja, the “original” M.K. Somashekar of the Congress has to contend with M. Somashekar, an independent, and yet another M. Somashekar, also an independent. When the margin between victory and defeat is narrow, if the two M. Somashekars manage to secure even a few hundred votes among them, it could upset the prospects of the Congress candidate. His arch rival S.A. Ramdas of the BJP has to ward of the threat posed by another Ramdas, also an independent.

In the 2004 Assembly elections, A.R. Krishnamurthy of the Janata Dal (Secular), who contested from Santhemarahalli Assembly segment (now dissolved), had to confront two other “Krishnamurthys” who between them polled 7,000 votes. Ultimately, A.R. Krishnamurthy lost to Dhruvanarayana by one vote.

The Congress leaders campaigning for the coming Assembly elections in Vemgal and Narsapur hoblis of Kolar district are campaigning for Krishna Byregowda. The strange part of the campaign is that Mr. Byregowda is contesting from Byatarayanapura Assembly segment in Bangalore. The leaders are appealing to the voters in Vemgal and Narsapur hoblis to inform their relatives and friends in Byatarayanapura to vote for Mr. Byregowda.

The Vemgal Assembly constituency in Kolar district was done away after the delimitation process. Most parts of the disappeared constituency are now included in the Kolar segment. Vemgal segment was represented by Mr.Byregowda in the dissloved House. The party issued ticket to the former MLA K. Srinivas Gowda to contest from Kolar, while Mr. Byregowda was accommodated in the newly formed Byatarayanpura segment.

The allegations of using child labour have gripped the election campaign in Hebbal Assembly constituency of Bangalore.

A local television channel has reported that some children in the age group of 15 to 16 years are campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Katta Subramanya Naidu. If the TV channel is to be believed, the children are paid a daily allowance of Rs. 250 a head in addition to food.

The report showed clippings of children pasting posters in the constituency.

So, it is no longer the Election Commission observers who are having a field day to monitor the election expenses of candidates, but also the officials of the Labour Department who have to be on their toes during the poll campaign.

R. KRISHNA KUMAR, VISHWA KUNDAPURA,

B. S. SATISH KUMAR

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