BENGALURU: Roadshows, door-to-door visits, public rallies and long speeches may all seem passe when compared to the Congress-JD(S) alliance candidate for Bangalore North Lok Sabha seat Krishna Byre Gowda’s latest campaign tool. Putting the fun into his poll gig, the 46-year-old five-time MLA resorted to a flash mob — the first of its kind — to seek votes. A group of 30 dancers and 25 volunteers took hundreds of people at Orion Mall in Rajajinagar, Bengaluru, by surprise when they broke into a dance on a busy Sunday evening.
Going footloose to the rerecorded Kannada version of Pharrell Williams’ song Happy, the mob held placards to promote his campaign “with you, for you”. While folk music or dance is a common sight during election rallies or roadshows, Krishna Byre Gowda may have just managed to set a new trend with flash mobs as campaign mediums.
“This is a cosmopolitan constituency. There are youngsters, elders, people of all sections - working class, middle class and educated youth. It is important to create awareness about voting,” said Krishna Byre Gowda, who walked through the group of dancers towards the end of the flash mob. He highlighted that despite being a literate city, Bengaluru has only managed to show 55-60 per cent voter turn out.
“The idea came about during a group discussion with his campaign team on Friday. In two days’ time, we implemented it,” said a source from Gowda’s team. The agenda of the flash mob was not just to grab eyeballs but also to appeal to the youths.
“The youths in the constituency is the group that we are unable to read clearly. The support of middle-aged and elder voters has been gauged already but the vast section of young voters between 18 and 35 years of age is unpredictable. We will continue with our efforts to appeal to this section since they have the make-it or break-it power,” said an aide of the incumbent Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister, who also represents Bytarayanapura constituency in Bangalore North as an MLA.
Despite an attempt to disrupt the event by a Narendra Modi fan who started chanting the Prime Minister’s name, the show went on unperturbed. “It doesn’t matter who you vote for but as the youth and educated people, we all have a responsibility to vote. My appeal to you is to make a conscious choice. Make the right choice but don’t forget to vote,” he said. Given the success of the flashmob, his team of volunteers sure hope it is repeated elsewhere, perhaps for other candidates of the alliance.