Karnataka election 2018: Darshan Puttannaiah keeps the flame burning; hits the campaign trail in father’s segment

MANDYA: The Sun had been up for barely two hours, but Swaraj India’s candidate from the Melukote assembly segment Darshan Puttannaiah was already busy on the campaign trail, knocking on doors of voters at Manikyanahalli off Mysuru-Nagamangala main road, around 16km from Pandavapura town.
The son of the recently deceased farmer leader KS Puttannaiah, who represented the Melukote segment, 40-year-old Darshan, a political greenhorn, has been campaigning indefatigably for the past one month. His day starts early in the morning, and as he endeavours to call on every voter in the segment, his daily campaign ends only late in the evening.

Having stayed in America for the past 15 years, Darshan believes that he has to visit each and every home in the segment since he needs to get people to recognise him. Darshan, who graduated with a bachelors in engineering in instrumentation technology from SJCE in Mysuru and subsequently completed his masters in computer science from the University of Toronto, founded his own company in the US, where he stayed with his wife Shilpa.

Kamalamma and Ningamma, villagers Darshan met along the way, wished him luck, and told him that his father’s good deeds would hold the son in good stead at the hustings.

Although there were only around 50 youngsters from the erstwhile Karnataka Rajya raitha Sangha,the farmer organisation his father was a member of, and Swaraj India, Darshan appears to have the support of the Dalit Sangarsha Samithi.

A local leader of the DSS Manjunath said, “There are around 3,000 Dalit voters within the Manikyanahalli gram panchayat limits, and a majority of them will support Darshan.” Pointing to Puttannaiah’s rejection of caste, Manjunath said, “Although caste-based discrimination continues in Mandya district, Puttannaiah did not care for it. He would come to our house, eat and drink. He was ou ‘Adhunika Basavanna (Modern Basavanna), who considered all castes to be equal. Darshan is like his father.”

There was a surprise in store for Darshan when he was campaigning at the Sri Yoganarasimha Swamy Hotel at Bellale. JD(S) leader Swamy Gowda, accompanied by the local cooperative society president Kempegowda met the young leader. “I came to meet you. Your father has done good work, and we cannot forget that, and we will support you in the elections,” Swamy said.

The trait that endeared him to voters in the villages where he campaigned on Wednesday – Manikyanahalli, Gowdagere, Chittanahallu, Bellale, Koppalu and Narayanapura – was his simplicity, a virtue that he appeared to have imbibed from his father. He sat down with the villagers, sharing a glass of tea or buttermilk, while he interacted with them.

“People are confidence that I will continue the farmers’ fight. I will continue the fight that my father took up for the welfare of farmers. I will also use my education, and knowledge in IT, to bring new skills and developmental projects for the youngsters of the region,” Darshan told TOI.

On the contest with Mandya MP CS Puttaraju in the assembly election, he said, “I respect Puttaraju, and believe in healthy competition.” Darshan was, however, quick to point out that senior Congress leaders including AICC president Rahul Gandhi, chief minister Siddaramaiah, former minister Mh Ambareesh, and former legislator Ramesh Babu had extended support to him.

Darshan’s mother Sunitha, and his sisters Smitha and Akshatha too are busy campaigning in the villages seeking support. “While studying postgraduation, he would attend college in the day and work at a hotel till 2am. He knows the value of money, and hard work. Few leaders in the opposition are spreading false news about Darshan not knowing much about the constituency and the people since he stayed in the US for 15 years. He knows about the problems of farmers, and is intelligent to solve them,” Sunitha told TOI.

She added that actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, and other Kannada film actors would campaign for her son. Dalit writer Devanuru Mahadeva too was keenly observing the sentiments, and campaigning for Puttannaiah’s son.

Pleased with the response, Swaraj India leader HN Vijayakumar told TOI, “People are upset with the Mandya MP, who is facing allegations of involvement in illegal mining at Baby Betta in Pandvapura. He has no respect for officials and has not raised issues pertaining to farmer welfare in the Parliament. But Puttannaiah fought for farmers for 37 years, which will help Darshan win the elections easily.”

Melukote segment in numbers

Total voters : 1,92,993

Male voters : 96,813

Female voters : 96176

Election Booths : 251

Sector Officers : 17