2019 LS Poll diaries from Karnataka

Going pink and ethnic for poll party

Kodagu will have 10 ‘pink’ booths — five each in Madikeri and Virajpet assembly segments — and five ‘ethnic’ booths. The all-woman ‘Sakhi’ booths, now synonymous with blinding pink festoons, buntings and balloons, and manned by women in bright pink sarees, are meant to draw the woman voter, and sport a tagline, ‘We go pink, we go to the polls’. On similar lines are ‘ethnic’ booths, which showcase tribal culture and lifestyle, and are stationed in places where the tribal population is high. The logic behind dressing up booths is to encourage voting among tribals, or so claim officials. And if the thinking is that tribals will go rushing to booths to see the cultural get-up, the Sakhi booth continues to defy logic. Apart from the overtly sexist assumption of pink being ‘soft’ and a favourite with the feminine gender, whether it brings in women voters is debatable. Surely, the urban voter would have outgrown her Barbie days, and the rural voter has more important issues on her mind.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

Gowda family tears, and BJP fears

BJP leaders KS Eshwarappa went for the jugular as he trashed the tears shed by Karnataka’s political first family. Mocking former PM H D Deve Gowda and his sons, Eshwarappa said he failed to understand why the family went all weepy at party functions, “I hardly understand why Deve Gowda, Revanna and Kumaraswamy cry while seeking votes from the people. They make their eyes wet and blackmail people for votes. I have never seen the family crying for martyred soldiers and the farmers of this nation.” And undaunted by recent death threats, he continued to defend why his party doesn’t give tickets to minorities. “Tickets should not be given under Muslim and Christian quotas, a ticket should be given only to those who are loyal to this nation and one’s party...”

FB post costs teacher dear

Government teachers, it seems, cannot declare their political affiliations on social media. Vithal Waggan, a teacher at the Government Primary School of Bhimalli village in Kalaburagi taluk, was suspended for posting on Facebook a statement critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union government, and supporting the Congress candidate. DDPI of Kalaburagi Shantagowda Patil said he had received a number of complaints against Waggan for his opinion. Recently, a government school teacher of Afzalpur taluk was suspended for supporting the BJP on Facebook. Teachers, as all other government servants who hold their jobs dear, would do well to just watch the political circus and refrain from penning their thoughts, though the writing on the wall is clear. Or join the legion of hacks who still claim this privilege.