BENGALURU: As the voting for the BBMP polls got over, the contestants would be pondering whether the money they spent to woo voters would help bring them to power? As per calculations, the candidates have spent more than Rs 1,000 crore for this election.
The Election Commission had set a limit of Rs 5 lakh per candidate for election expenditures. A simple calculation takes the amount to Rs 56 crore, as there are 1,120 candidates in the poll fray. But is Rs 5 lakh enough for a candidate? The answer from the contestants is a big no.
According to political pundits, the spending on elections starts right from the fund to be given to the political parties. “In the current scenario, no one could get a ticket from a party to contest election, without contributing funds to the party. They have to shell out a minimum of Rs 20 lakh to get a ticket and the spending on elections begins from there,” a political analyst said. A former corporator from a ward in Basavanagudi assembly constituency said that he had spent not less than Rs 1 crore in the previous election.
“The cap set by election commission is not even enough to meet the expenses of those who campaign for us. We have take care of everything, starting from their breakfast to booze parties till the elections are over. Everyday, we have to pay them at least Rs 500 per head. This only would come up to several lakhs. Its time that the election commission increased the limit,” he said.
Freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy and Radhakrishna Holla casting their franchise at Jayanagar in Bengaluru on Saturday (Photo: Satish B.)
A JD (S) candidate contesting from K.R. Puram assembly constituency said that most of the candidates, barring independents, were spending anywhere between Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore. “Everyone is spending crores of rupees, as they do not want to miss this chance. If we lose, we have wait for another five years. Even after that, there is no guarantee that we will get the party ticket again. We do not want to take any chances and we have spent money. All I could say is even public are corrupt. There are some people who openly demand money saying ‘that party candidate has given us that much, how much will you give?’ When this is the situation, how can I be confident that I will win the election just because of my good will alone?” he questioned.
“There are more than 650 candidates who are contesting under a party banner. Even if they have spent Rs 1.5 crore each on an average, the total amount will come up to Rs 975 crore. Even some of the independent candidates, who have no political backing, have in fact spent much more than the stipulated limit. Even if an average of Rs 50 lakh from each of 400 independent candidates is calculated, it forms a huge amount of Rs 200 crore,” a prominent leader of a political party said.
Clash among party workers at Yelahanka
Workers from BJP, Congress and JD(S) were involved in clashes at Yelahanka on Saturday, the BBMP election day. The police intervened and detained a few workers to restore calm. Yelahanka MLA S.R. Vishwanath (BJP) too was involved in one of the incidents as his followers fought with other party workers over a trivial issue. His wife Vani is contesting the BBMP election from Chowdeshwari ward from a BJP ticket.
Tension prevailed in the area for a while as police rushed to the spot and dispersed the workers from near the polling station. “There were three such minor incidents within the Yelahanka Assembly constituency. We have registered non-cognisable reports and have detained a few people in connection. Voting was not disrupted and we deployed additional forces to avert any further trouble,” said Mr Vikas Kumar Vikas, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northeast. BBMP Commissioner G. Kumar Naik visited the booths in Yelahanka and later said that voting was going on peacefully.
Clash at Govindarajanagar
There was a minor clash between BJP and Congress supporters at the Govindarajanagar (ward no. 104) in Vijayanagar police station limits on Saturday noon. BJP contestant Umesh Shetti alleged that the Congress candidate G. Krishnappa was distributing money and silver coins in front of booth no. 11, 12, 13, 14 in MC Layout in Sri Sarvajna Primary & High School. Angry BJP supporters picked up a quarrel and roughed up few Congress supporters, who fled the spot, Shetti alleged. BJP supporters then informed the police and filed a complaint. The police have registered a case and are investigating. After the police arrived voting resumed.
Union Minister Ananth Kumar with his family casting their franchise at Jayanagar in Bengaluru on Saturday (Photo: Satish B.)
Dispute over distribution of cash, goodies
The Whitefield police arrested four Congress party workers after they threw stones at a tempo traveler, suspecting it to be carrying money to be distributed among voters in Hagaduru ward. The police and Election Commission officials rushed to the spot and checked the vehicle, but found no suspicious cash or material. The police resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse Congress workers, who staged a protest.
In another incident, Congress party workers protested near a polling booth at Marenahalli near Vijaynagar, alleging that BJP workers are distributing orange coloured T-shirts to voters. The police resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Congress and BJP workers tried to assault each other at Doddannekundi and Kaveripura making charges against each other that bogus voters were being brought to the polling station.
