BELAGAVI: Ahead of the Assembly polls, several aspiring candidates are busy wooing voters by distributing gifts on the pretext of religious rituals. In the latest case, several women were believed to be injured in a minor stampede that occurred during the distribution of sarees by supporters of a high-profile leader, who is likely to be the Congress candidate from the Raibag Assembly segment.
Thousands of women thronged the farmhouse of Shambhu Kallolikar, a senior IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre who recently took a voluntary retirement to enter politics, to attend the pooja to the newly dug well at the farmhouse at Jodatti village in Raibag taluk on Sunday.
Even as the distribution of sarees was on, the massive crowd of women went out of control and some of them sustained injuries in the mad rush. Sources said the number of women swelled after the news of free sarees spread in Raibag taluk.
Over 20,000 women gathered at the farmhouse, more than the organisers expected. Unable to control the rush, the organisers cancelled the distribution of sarees.
On the pretext of holding haldi-kumkum events, leaders are distributing sarees, utensils, mixers and dinner sets. Recently, Kagwad MLA Shrimant Patil distributed sarees on the premises of his sugar factory in Kagwad. Prior to that, MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar, former MLA Sanjay Patil and Congress leader Nagesh Mannolkar too distributed goodies to the voters.
With Congress certain to field Kallolikar against sitting MLA Duryodhan Aihole of BJP in Raibag, the contest between the two is expected to be close. Aihole has won the last three elections in a row and yet he is expected to face a tough challenge from Kallolikar, given his rising popularity in the constituency.