MYSURU: The high-voltage election drama playing out in Tamil Nadu and Kerala is having a ripple effect in the border villages of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts in Karnataka.
It has raised the social temperature in the region, perking up what would have been another dull summer.
The people here are well-versed with the politics across the border, with diehard supporters adding to heated debates on caste, cadre, micro and macro issues.
Residents of over 120 border villages are glued to television sets and cell phones for the latest on clashes and campaigns.
There are animated discussions on whether Stalin will make it to Fort St George, or Kamal Haasan will finally arrive politically, whether Palaniswamy will prove pundits wrong, and if BJP will gain from its alliance with AIADMK.
Tea stalls, salons, street corners and the village katte buzz with news and analyses, with villagers even crossing the border to attend public meetings of prominent leaders.
Though there are no voters in Bavali, Machur, DB Kuppe and other villages on the Karnataka-Kerala border, adjacent to Mananthavady and Sultan Bathery assembly constituencies, the villagers feel that for the first time, there is a keen tussle between the LDF and UDF.
“We were not too curious about Parliamentary results as Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi was the frontrunner. But LDF’s governance has given UDF a run for its money,” said Sameer of Machur.
Biju differs, and claims that UDF has an edge as the Rahul wave will help it win in Calicut and Wayanad. These villagers cross the Kabini river to reach Pulpali village, when LDF leaders hold street corner meetings in the evenings.
There is a different level of involvement in the border villages along Tamil Nadu, like Gopinatham on the banks of the Cauvery to Nala Road. Party symbols, names of candidates and parties are popular in about 90 villages, where residents flick through mobile phones to update themselves.
Chinnadowri and his friends, sitting under a honge tree in Punajanur, say the mood is in favour of Stalin as after 10 years, there is an anti-incumbency wave against an AIADMK bereft of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. In a knowledgable tone -- he gets news and nuggets from relatives and friends in Tamil Nadu -- he says the DMK will get a wafer-thin majority.
Many labourers from Tamil Nadu have already started returning to their native towns and villages to catch the last of the technicolour drama of democracy, before they exercise their franchise.
Mani of Nellore village said the AIADMK and PMK will do well in Erode, Salem and the delta region, thanks to an ordinance increasing reservation to the Vanniyar community.
Japamalai said the AIADMK, that suffered a major setback fighting Lok Sabha polls with the BJP, will again feel the heat as people are not in favour of national parties compromising their identity.
They feel that actor Rajinikant’s entry into politics would have added more colour to the elections, and are keenly watching Kamal Haasan, Khushbu Sundar and others testing the political waters.Many even cross the borders to get a feel of the mood.
“I am following Tamil Nadu politics from the time of Kalaignar MGR, but this time, it is difficult to predict as there are too many players, changed caste equations and polarisation of votes,” said Shakthivel, a farmer.