MANDYA: Inspite of all the attention that Mandya Lok Sabha segment is getting this election, for Javarappa (54) — an agricultural labourer from Hampapura village in KR Nagar taluk — it is just another election. He is not expecting anything from it. He is not quite impressed by slogans like ‘people are the kings in a democracy’ and says democracy has become a joke in Mandya. In a constituency like Mandya, which is dominated by a particular community of landholders, he said, Dalits and backward classes have to pay a price for voting against their wishes.
“Two decades ago, they used to drag us to the ballot box by holding our collar and make us vote for a candidate of their choice. Now, they have outwitted the election laws. By looking at the vote count in each booth, they can figure out which community has voted for them and which hasn’t,” rued Javarappa, the father of a 17-year-old daughter.
Pointing towards an incomplete B R Ambedkar Bhavan, he said, “The construction of the building started 12 years ago, but is yet to be completed. Javarappa said that any request to the public representatives to complete it, is met with a harsh reply: “You people haven’t voted for us. Then why are asking us to do this?”