‘Jatres’ to weddings, Karnataka netas go all out to court voters

MANGALURU/HUBBALLI: It is election time and potential candidates — both incumbent MLAs, and aspiring ones — are leaving nothing to chance to ensure they are elected. Given that it is the season of temple festivals, it is not unusual to find aspirants making sure they are front and centre of as many religious events as possible. Since they draw thousands of devotees, the fact that these events are fertile campaigning grounds is not lost on aspirants. Ditto for weddings!
Politicians believe that being seen at these hyperlocal functions help stamp their brand on the minds of voters. It helps foster the belief that functionaries are one of them living, present and approachable. It is about managing perceptions. While foot-soldiers of Congress and BJP are currently focusing on strengthening their parties at booth-level via meetings and door-to-door visits, they are also making sure that ticket aspirants support and attend all functions, re - gardless of religious affinity. For Congress, the primary connection with voters is through its ‘guarantee card’ campaign, while BJP is knocking on doors with handbills/ pamphlets highlighting programmes/schemes of the Union and state governments. G Manjunath, district president, Bengaluru Central unit of BJP, admitted the saffron party is trying to reach out to voters in every possible way. “Besides strengthening the party at the booth level, we are organising several meetings of beneficiaries of government schemes,” Manjunath said. “Groups have also been formed based on communities/caste to understand the needs of sections of society.”
Manjunath revealed party workers and functionaries celebrated Holi in about 10 con - stituencies with about 6,000 people. “We are also planning to be part of ‘jatres’ (festivals) and ‘Oora Habbas’ and do what needs to be done to ensure these occasions are a success,” he said. “We participated in festivities of Muthyalamma temple in Shivajinagar, Annamma jatre in Byatarayanapura, Shivaratri in Gandhinagar and so on. This is the jatre period and we attend every event and help organize them in all ways possible.” Rajat Ulagaddimath, a Congress aspirant from Hubballi Dharwad Central constituency, distributed six tonnes of colour to constituents to celebrate Holi.
Nagaraj Gouri, another Congress ticket aspirant, organized a DJ show with rain dance during Holi in HubballiDharwad West segment. R Murthy, president, District Congress Committee (DCC), Mysuru City, said all aspirants in the districts are attending every possible function (jatres) besides going doorto-door with guarantee cards. Harish Kumar, Dakshina Kannada DCC president, said aspirants are “on their toes”. He pointed out that it isn’t just the younger aspirants who are working hard, but also veterans like former ministers Ramanath Rai and UT Khader. “Attending events at the grassroots helps build a relationship with the public,” Kumar said. “It creates an impression in the minds of the public that the leader is active in politics and will have an impact in the long run. It does not mean that as soon as a leader attends ‘Bhootakolas’, ‘brahmakalashas’, or temple festivals that people will vote for you, but people will certainly talk about you. It is a long-term, image building exercise for the party and the individual.”