The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Appealing to a diverse section of voters On the campaign trail

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Thursday, May 08, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Appealing to a diverse section of voters On the campaign trail

Karnataka Bureau

Drinking water scarcity a common problem in Sarvagnanagar and Doddaballapur constituencies

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Seeking blessings: K.J. George, Congress candidate for Sarvagnanagar, during his campaign in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Bangalore: Like most other parts of the city, there are three main issues that the voters in Sarvagnagar are concerned about — water, bad roads and garbage clearance. The constituency, which is the second largest in Karnataka, extends from Govindpura to Lingarajapuram and is diverse with more than one and a half lakh Christians and Muslims in a total population of more than three lakhs consisting of over 70,000 families.

“One of my first priorities is to solve the drinking water problem in the area,” said K.J. George as this reporter accompanied him on his campaign trail. Weaving through the bylanes of Lingarajapuram, Mr. George’s day started early with a public meeting at 9 a.m. at a local nursing home where he assured the voters gathered that he would strive to solve their problems.

While he travels in a sportsutility vehicle, his cavalcade consists of another sportsutility vehicle festooned with party flags and filled with his campaign support team, an autorickshaw with loudspeakers blaring and a couple of cars crammed with a dozen Congress party workers.

“Mr. George has been campaigning for more than 12 hours every day for the past month and he only takes an hour off for lunch that he makes sure to eat with his workers,” Chandran, member of his campaign team told The Hindu, as we had a cup of tea in Mr. George’s campaign office — a half-constructed building — on Kammanhalli Main Road.

Visits of temples and churches formed a part of his hectic schedule (A masjid meeting had to be cancelled as Mr. George had to rush away to meet Sonia Gandhi). He briefly stopped at the World Gospel Hope Church near St. Charles’ School in Grace Town, while the pastor prayed for him and then moved with his retinue to the small Sri Venugopala Swamy temple in the same area where more than two hundred of his supporters decked in the Congress tricolour were waiting to adorn and garland him.

By this time it was noon and Mr. George looked slightly tired in the scorching heat but he carried on valiantly. As the tricolour scarf he was wearing fluttered with a hot gust of wind, he stopped and wiped his brow but there was no time to rest. An old lady’s house was ahead and he went up to her and sought her blessing and the lady assured him his support. “I want to help the BPL families in the area by providing them with a honourable life,” Mr. George said as he was whisked away by one of his campaign assistants. How much of these promises are realised can only be found out later but till then, the campaign continues.

Doddaballapur

The Doddaballapur Assembly Constituency would have been a perfect example for self-propelled micro economic model had it not been for the effects of globalisation and liberalisation. A taluk of 40,000 weavers and their handlooms, it used to weave some of the finest silk fabrics with the help of its native knowledge base.

With the entry of powerloom in the taluk the poor weavers were pushed to the background. The weavers and their families joined the powerlooms after dismantling their handlooms to work as daily wage earners.

The people in this town have been demanding proper drinking water supply, gas connections, job security and quality education for children. Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate R. Chandra Tejaswi points out that Doddaballapur is neither a town nor a village, but of late it was getting urbanised and people have started demanding piped water, drainage and other civic amenities. As there is no perennial water source for the town, water is being supplied through tankers. About 1.5 lakh people get water through tankers.

Following the campaign of J. Narasimha Swamy is yet another experience. It is typically old time Congress campaigning with several people following the candidate raising slogans in the streets oblivious of the poverty and problems that they pass through on the way. The mantra of stable government has quickly percolated into the campaigning trail of the Congress workers. They cite the failures of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the BJP to honour their commitment to the coalition partners.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader Chennigappa, who has migrated to Doddaballapur from Koratagere constituency, has merged himself well into the Doddaballapur constituency. His campaign mainly dwelt on farmer welfare. The BJP’s Narayana Gowda has gone through the budget proposals of BJP for 2007-08 several times over and again. BSP has a minimal presence too. Its candidate Purushottam is hopeful of cornering Dalit votes.

(With inputs from Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed and M. Raghuram)

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