BENGALURU: In several assembly constituencies across Bengaluru, voters are upset over the ‘cheap gifts’ they have received from contesting candidates, who are hoping that these gifts would encourage them to vote for them. In a few cases that The New Indian Express came across in the city, gift items like mixers and pressure cookers were of such poor quality that they have literally ‘blasted off’ when put on the gas stove or switched on.
According to voters from a few constituencies in the city, mixers, cookers and saris were of “cheap quality” and worthless “China items” dumped on the poor unsuspecting voters.“A mixer set provided by one of the candidates caught fire when we plugged it to the power point. I got scared when I heard a sound from the kitchen recently and when I went to check inside, the mixer was on fire,” says a voter from KR Puram constituency.
“We cannot trust and use these electronic items given by the candidates. Iron boxes are in fact, sticking on clothes, mixers are catching fire and cookers are blasting,” says another voter. Meanwhile, in Yeshvanthpura constituency, where a candidate distributed cookers to voters is facing a storm of complaints ranging from burnt rice, and cookers getting damaged when putting on the stove.
An angry voter adds, “These candidates are giving gifts for the sake of giving. By giving such cheap gifts, they are treating us shoddily. What if someone loses his/her life with the cookers blasting off?”