 | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | LURING VOTERS: Kumaraswamy
has announced various sops "I don't want to be high on rhetoric, but on action."
H.D. KUMARASWAMY, CHIEF MINISTER | | As by-elECtions go, the Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in Karnataka's Mysore district will soon witness the mother of all elECtoral battles. Though the ElECtion Commission (EC) is yet to announce a poll date, poll fever has already hit the constituency. Several political bigwigs have suddenly turned devout Chamundeshwari bhakt-Chief Minister H.D. Kumaras-wamy alone has been on a darshan here a rECord eight times in less than three months. The reason: not only is the elECtion the first real test for the JD(S)-BJP coalition, but also the opponent, former party leader S. Siddara-maiah, is taking on the ruling combine in his new avatar as a Congressman. "It is a prestige issue for the Congress," says senior party leader and poll strategist D.K. Shivakumar, who scripted the defeat of Kumaraswamy's father and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda from the Kanakapura Lok Sabha constituency in the last parliamentary polls. Siddaramaiah has retained the seat four times in the past as a JD(S) candidate. Kumaraswamy is trying his best to woo the constituency with promises of goodies (see box). Sops notwithstanding, the battle will be tough since the coalition partners, the JD(S) and the bjp, are both keen on fielding separate candidates. Karnataka bjp chief D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa rebuffed the state JD(S) chief and home minister, M.P. Prakash's suggestion to field a common candidate. The bjp wants to test the waters as it had emerged sECond, trailing Siddaramaiah in the 2004 elECtion. The advantage at the moment lies with the Congress. | SOP OPERA
Funds promised by Kumaraswamy | | | | | The JD(S) is still hoping the bjp will throw in its lot with it and avoid splitting of non-Congress votes. "The chief minister has announced a plethora of programmes worth Rs 200-odd crore for the region but the elECtorate knows who has actually helped them," says Siddaramaiah. That he is no lightweight was apparent when Sonia Gandhi herself flew down to Bangalore to induct him into the party last month. A one time protégé of Deve Gowda, he was even seen as the former prime minister's heir apparent. And as late as in February 2006 he almost landed the top job in the state until a sentimental Gowda dECided in favour of his son Kumaraswamy. | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | HARDSELLING: Siddaramaiah is all set to woo his electorate "The voters know who has actually helped them."
SIDDARAMAIAH, CONGRESS CANDIDAT | | This is why it is a prestige issue for Kumaraswamy not to let Siddara-maiah walk away with victory when he is the big boss of the state. Once he was in the region for more than a week. "I can be anywhere in the state," says Kumaraswamy, "and I want to understand the pulse of the people. You cannot do that sitting in an office in Bangalore. I want people to see what we have done and I just don't want to be high on rhetoric but on action." Siddaramaiah claims the JD(S)-BJP coalition has also posted pliable
officers "to misuse the official machinery" and demanded that the EC take complete charge of the district and observers from other states be appointed to monitor and supervise the elECtoral exercise. Siddaramaiah supporters have also begun development work worth Rs 1.5 crore in the constituency. The money has come from local area development funds contributed by Congress legislators and parliamentarians including the deputy chairman Rajya Sabha, Rahman Khan. But more than the money spent on the voters, he is banking on popular support: former Union minister and Dalit leader V. Srinivas Prasad-also a JD(S) strongman who is expECted to join the Congress soon-spent close to an hour with Siddaramaiah in Mysore last fortnight. "Even if Kumaraswamy visits the constituency a hundred times, people will know whom to vote for," says Prasad. Siddaramaiah, meanwhile, has already called on religious leaders including the Mysore Catholic archbishop and senior Hindu seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji of Suttur mutt. In the caste-ridden state politics, the former law teacher will benefit from his considerable influence among the kuruba community spread over 50 assembly constituencies. But in the race against time and promise, the biggest beneficiaries are the voters of Chamundeshwari, even as they may not be sure whether to thank their goddess or the political demi-gods trooping in and out with never-before-seen goodies. Index
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Rs 18 crore for a bridge near Sagarakatte village
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