The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Braving the blazing sun to seek votes On the campaign trail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 01, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Braving the blazing sun to seek votes On the campaign trail

B.S. Ramesh and K.N. Venkatasubba Rao

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Thirsting for more: Arvind Limabavali, BJP candidate for Mahadevapura, takes a break during his campaign at Whitefield in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: A “burst” of crackers, the rhythmic beats of drums and shrill whistles by children shatter the silence of several quiet neighbourhoods around the International Technological Park Limited (ITPL), the IT hub in Whitefield. The cacophony of these sounds herald the arrival of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Aravind Limbavalli, the party’s candidate from Mahadevapura Assembly (Reserved) Constituency.

On a door-to-door campaign, Mr. Limbavalli is on a whirlwind tour of several residential localities such as Prashant Layout, Pattandur and Dinnur that surround the ITPL and other companies such as BPL, Container Corporation of India and the sprawling Forest Department’s Staff Training College.

Led by a small band of children waving BJP colours and holding one-page pamphlets, Mr. Limbavalli was braving the blazing sun to meet the residents and seek votes. Whenever the small BJP cavalcade of cheerleaders, curious onlookers and committed party workers reached a house, the children burst crackers and start “drumming” to bring the residents out of their house. Once the people in the house came out, Mr. Limbavalli smilingly requested them to vote of for the BJP.

Exhausted, Mr. Limbavalli stops at a small vacant room of a house in Prashant Layout which also doubles up as the party office for the area. He converses with his campaign managers and the media before proceeding to pay a visit to the adjoining Malleswara temple. He then readies himself for another neighbour visit.

With only a few vehicles forming part of the cavalcade and with no overt signs of electioneering such as banners and buntings, flags and loudspeakers, it is difficult to catch up with the campaigning.

The only sound to “give away” the campaigning is the occasional burst of crackers. A conspicuous absentee in this year’s electioneering is the loudspeaker. No wonder, contacting a candidate when he is on the campaign trail is a Herculean task.

Covering vast areas of Varthur, Whitefield, Mahadevapura and other areas, the Assembly constituency has as of now not seen any large-scale campaigning by any political party or candidate. The campaigning by the BJP, Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) is restricted to visiting residential areas.

None of the major roads, ring road or interior roads show any visible signs of electioneering. As is to be expected, the IT Park and several other IT units in and around Whitefield and in the constituency is an oasis of calm where even the faint signs of electioneering fail to make an impact.

The lush campuses of the IT companies and the magnificent glass façade of IT majors contrast sharply with the lack of amenities in many of the areas.

Roads which are yet to see a coat of tar and bitumen, borewell taps which are yet to dispense water and several other infrastructural bottlenecks dot the constituency.

As far as the election is concerned, the IT employees seem not to care as many of them are not voters of the area. The few that vote stay far away and come here only for work.

For the locals of the area, the election seems to matter hardly. When asked who is likely to win, all they say is that there is going to be a close fight.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka