Karnataka: Congress’ bigger worry is NOTA, BJP’s getting voters to booths
SHIVAMOGGA: The bypolls are less than a week away, but Shivamogga constituency shows no signs of being in a hurry to elect its Member of Parliament.
Except for the occasional campaign autos plying across the district blaring names of candidates, the constituency is yet to wake up to the heat of this bypoll.
With door-to-door campaigning for all parties yet to begin effectively, convincing voters to come to the polling booths or at least even creating awareness about a bypoll around the corner seems to be the immediate challenge for the party workers. For the Congress, which has extended support to JD(S) candidate Madhu Bangarappa, the worry is two-fold. Not only must the party bring its voters to the polling station, it must also ensure that they do not opt for NOTA.
With local leaders forced to work with the JD(S) as part of the grand alliance, many fear that traditional Congress voters will either restrain from voting or choose NOTA. The district, as well as state leadership, is busy strategising ways to avoid NOTA playing spoilsport in a constituency where, they believe, the caste combinations are stacked in their favour.
“All these years we have criticised the JD(S) and BJP symbols when we approach voters, but today we are seeking votes for the JD(S). It confuses the voters. We are not even sure if many of our voters will come to the polling booth. Many tell us that they would rather choose NOTA than a JD(S) candidate,” said a Shivamogga district Congress unit office-bearer.
Senior Congress leaders, however, disagree. “No that won’t happen. People have realised that BJP is a communal party that is destroying society’s harmony in the name of Hindutva. People want this party to lose,” said Siddaramaiah, Congress Legislative Party leader when asked about the worry his partymen have over NOTA.
For the BJP, while NOTA is of no concern, bringing voters to the polling booth is.
“Workers and voters alike get tired with consecutive elections. Many people, mostly in rural areas, have no clue that there in an election is upcoming. Our workers are, in fact, informing them. But it is also common for bypolls to see fewer voter turnout,” pointed out B Y Raghavendra, BJP candidate in the bypoll.
Raghavendra’s campaign has been far more active than the combined campaign for the JD(S)-Congress candidate Madhu Bangarappa despite the parties setting up a common working office for the bypolls.
The BJP as well as Congress workers believe that lower the voter turnout, slimmer the chances get for Raghavendra to win the seat. “If the voter turn out is between 45-50 per cent, we have a good chance at winning but anything more than that will be advantageous to the BJP,” said a Congress leader.