The Hindu : By-poll: Parties slugging it out for votes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 28, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

By-poll: Parties slugging it out for votes

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE May 27. For politicians in the State, the focus is now on the Narasimharaja Assembly constituency in Mysore, where a by-election will be held on May 31 to fill the vacancy caused by the demise of Azeez Sait.

If anything, the by-election has brought the leaders of mainstream political parties knocking on the doors of the residents of the sprawling constituency, which has, by and large, remained backward in terms of development.

Flooding the lanes of the hitherto neglected areas of the Assembly segment with publicity material comprising colourful cut-outs, banners, posters, and buntings, the political parties are wooing the electorate with a plethora of promises. Padayatras featuring party leaders and candidates beseeching the voters with folded hands have become a common sight in different parts of the constituency. The padayatras are accompanied by autorickshaws with loudspeakers blaring the virtues of the party and the candidate.

With the outcome of the by-election having become a prestige issue for the ruling Congress, the Janata Parivar, and the BJP, the leaders of all the three political parties are making a bee-line to Mysore to entice the voters.

The by-election has given the Congress an opportunity to snatch the initiative from the two factions of the Janata Dal whose consensus candidates won the by-elections from the Kagwad Assembly constituency and the Kanakapura parliamentary constituency.

The Janata Parivar is equally determined to continue its string of recent electoral victories and is leaving no stone unturned in achieving its objective. For the BJP, which is struggling to make its presence felt in the State despite being the principal Opposition party in the Legislative Assembly, a victory will help boost the party's morale.

A host of ministers has descended on the city to campaign for the Congress party candidate, Tanvir Sait, son of the former MLA, Azeez Sait. "The Congress party's determination to win the seat can be gauged by the presence of at least half a dozen ministers in the city," an observer said. The ministers — D.K. Shivakumar, Sageer Ahmed, and H. Vishwanath — have been camping here for the past few days.

The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, who had cancelled his programme to visit the city on several occasions, made it a point to attend the Basava Jayanti function organised here on Saturday and participate in the campaigning process. A battery of ministers — Mallikarjun Kharge, M. Mahadev, Shivanna, and Maalakaraddy — the KPCC chief, Allum Veerabhadrappa, and the Rajya Sabha MP, B. Janardhana Poojary, were also present.

The ministers — Roshan Baig and Kagodu Thimmappa — and the actor and MP, Ambarish, have also visited Mysore.

Senior leaders of the Janata Parivar have also organised a series of public meetings and padayatras in the constituency. The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, the former Union minister, C.M. Ibrahim, the former Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, the former ministers — P.G.R. Sindhia, M.P. Prakash, and C. Byre Gowda — have participated in the election campaign of their party candidate, E. Maruthi Rao Pawar.

Not to be outdone, the BJP's campaign was marked by the presence of the Union Minister for Urban Development, Ananth Kumar, the senior party leader and MLC, B.S. Yediyurappa, and the party's State unit President, Basavaraj Patil Sedam. The BJP candidate, B.P. Manjunath, is carrying on a vigorous campaign.

In the surcharged electoral atmosphere, the leaders of political parties have not restricted their criticism to the omissions and commissions of the rival parties. They have stooped to the level of making personal accusations against rival party leaders. Accusations of bigamy and corruption were among the personal allegations levelled against rival party leaders.

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