HUBBALLI: As
assembly elections come near, walls in the twin cities are full of messages from political parties to voters. All parties and ticket aspirants are using this public -- albeit free -- platform to market themselves.
These messages are coming up surreptitiously, irking house owners who suddenly come upon political messages screaming from their compound walls. The painters hired by parties to write the slogans, don't inform the property owners, not even by way of courtesy. They are directed by parties to finish their job at night or when the house owners are away.
Basaveshwar (name changed), a retired lecturer fom Lingaraj Nagar, told TOI he was approached by a team of political workers, seeking permission to write their slogans. "I told them to come after two days, but they or someone else wrote on the wall without my notice. However, as 2-3 of my students are planning to contest elections, I kept quiet to avoid any personal clashes with them," he said.
Vijayalaxmi, a homemaker in Vijay Nagar, said she found a group of persons writing on her compound wall a month ago.
"When I questioned them, they said they had taken permission from my husband. I called my husband, who works in a bank, but he said he hasn't allowed anybody to use our wall for this purpose. Now we are worried whether
HDMC will take any action. If we oppose this, we could become the target of politicians and their followers," she said helplessly.
Anil Madan Desai, a member of
Lions Club, said that parties are taking public and private walls for granted for their campaign. "They have to obtain permission from the authorities concerned or property owners. HDMC should be proactive and erase slogans under the
Karnataka Disfigurement of Public Places Act, 1984. It should collect expenses from the parties or candidates concerned, in the form of penalty," he added.
Kiran Hiremath, founder of Dharwad Bonds, a Facebook group, asserted that no party or person has touched the walls between Jubilee Circle and KCD Circle, which were painted with
Worli art by enthusiasts. "If people are alert like our group members, parties won't deface any wall. Politicians are defacing walls as the citizens are silent. If citizens come forward to raise their voice en masse, such illegal acts may be prevented," he said.
Many citizens in residential areas like Vidyanagar, Ashok Nagar, Nehru Nagar and Akshay Colony alleged that HDMC is not even registering complaints on this issue, and is passing the buck back to property owners, and asking them why they had allowed this graffiti.
