The Hindu : Karnataka News : Lacklustre campaign in Bangalore Rural

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Karnataka

Karnataka

Lacklustre campaign in Bangalore Rural

Deepa Kurup

It comes alive only when a popular politician arrives

— Photo: Deepa Kurup

OCCASIONAL SPARK:Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily lends celebrity quotient to the panchayat poll campaign trail.

Devanahalli/Doddaballapur (Bangalore Rural district): One has to look hard to spot where election campaigning is on in a district which goes to the polls in a couple of days. Such is the inconspicuous character of door-to-door campaigning in the local body elections. But every now and then, these nondescript campaign trails come alive when a popular politician swings by.

So when Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily arrives, flashing red beacon and convoy in tow, the sleepy town of Viswanathpura, where large tracts of land are slated to be denotified to make way for the first phase of the IT Investment Region, knows that “somebody big” has arrived. By the time he steps on to the mini lorry that awaits him at a dusty street corner, a large crowd has gathered.

Flanked by zilla panchayat candidates, Sarvabhushan contesting from Avathi constituency and Savitha Venkataswamy (wife of Bangalore Rural MLA), Mr. Moily takes centre stage. Amid a slew of promises that include providing round the clock water supply, BPL cards and continuous electricity, Mr. Moily points out that development work is funded by the Union Government.

“The BJP Government has done nothing,” he adds, emphatically. Every time he mentions a huge number, ranging between a few hundred lakhs to Rs. 8,000 crore for water projects, the crowd bursts into applause. He endorses both candidates as the “perfect leaders” before he steps down, gets back into his car and zips away into another obscure village. On Wednesday, Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had visited these areas, residents said. A particularly cynical farmer, Chandrababu, perched atop a nearby wall, mumbles that nobody, including “newspaper people”, visit their village unless it is election time. Asked about the mood of this election, he retorts: “This is not where the mood is. The real mood is in the evenings, when money, sometimes clothes and, more often than not, liquor begins to do the rounds.” The BJP is trying to make inroads into this territory, in this district, for the first time. The 2005 Zilla Panchayat here had no BJP presence, and the Janata Dal(S) was in majority. Dodappa, a BJP worker, says his party is likely to score its first victory in the taluk panchayat elections here.

A quiet affair

Celebrity rallies apart, campaigns are a lacklustre affair. A few miles away, in Kanasavadi Zilla Panchayat constituency, the feeble sloganeering of three Janata Dal(S) workers is drowned by the monotone of powerlooms working away in every other home. CPI(M) candidate B. Shantamma knocks every door in the alley sometimes having to tell them what the election is about. She is a familiar face in the area. “She has come here earlier to fight for power subsidies for looms,” says Pedamma, a middle-aged woman. They say water supply is erratic and at times once a week. Further, she adds that around 150 families in the area are yet to get “hakku patras” for land and houses they live in.

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