BENGALURU: The fractured election results have created a feverish excitement and thrill across the City. So much so that even watching IPL cricket matches has taken a backseat to the unfolding political drama.
The City appears to have come to a standstill since Tuesday afternoon. Tea shops, buses, Metro trains, suburban trains, hotels, mobile talks, traffic signal discussions...it almost appeared as if the only issue bothering anyone's life presently was about which party would form the government for the State. Thanks to speedier data, literally everyone's mobile till late Friday evening was flickering with images of elected MLAs and seats of different parties. Even top bosses across sections in government departments were glued to the unfolding events on their TV sets.
There was almost a Second Saturday feel in most government offices with skeletal staff around. Many were noticed leaving early too. For once, it was the turn of newspersons to be asked questions from everyone. Right from the peon to the top boss everyone wanted "some inside info" on the latest events happening inside political parties.The seniormost official in a government office confessed to Express, "I am just not in the mood to do any work at all in this kind of atmosphere. Being on so many WhatsApp groups and reading the messages being sent itself is taking away all my time." A junior official added, "There is literally nothing happening in our offices. No file is moving anywhere."
The scene was similar across the City. A few decided to take Tuesday off to spend the day in front of TV sets while some were keen on enjoying all the entertainment in office only. Tweeting and arguing their viewpoints online was an obsession with many. No wonder hashtags pertaining to Karnataka elections was trending on all the days.
Pratap, an IT professional in Whitefield said that one tab on the PC was permanently open to watch election results unfolding. "We all had Google alerts set during the day to have the updates flowing. We do have targets to meet. So, work went on to some extent," he said. Stating there was just no escape from elections, he told TNIE on Friday evening, "I am travelling by Chennai Express from Whitefield to Cantonment railway station and so many in my compartment train are watching some news channel on their phones." Rakesh Sharma, another software professional employed at ITPL said, "Atleast 30% of attention to work was taken away this week due to elections."