Bengaluru: Visit villages around the state and it's like Christmas, Diwali and all other festivals rolled into one with politicians playing Santa Claus to people of all faiths and communities. With elections to the state assembly barely a few months away, they are sponsoring pilgrimages, doing free door deliveries of 25 litre water cans, gifting saris and readymade shirts, and bags stuffed with groceries and even shelling out pensions to the old in their constituencies. If senior BJP leader, R Ashok recently flagged off four buses carrying voters of his constituency to Shiradi in Maharashtra, a JD(S) MLA gave away money to the family of a child killed in a road accident. And on New Year's day, a Congress MLA distributed packed ration bags to his voters, while another MLA sponsored four busloads of his voters to the Om Shakthi Temple in Tamil Nadu.
Commenting on the trend, a Congress MLA points out it is not a new one. "The phenomenon has been going on for many years, but now more and more candidates are throwing money around in various ways to keep their vote banks intact," he says.
Almost every aspiring candidate today reportedly sets aside lakhs of rupees for distribution of gifts and sponsoring trips for his or her constituency's voters.
In fact, in the 2013 elections, some candidates distributed pressure cookers, mixies and other household gadgets to woo women voters, he reveals.
"It's only a gamble as the candidates are also not sure whether those who they give gifts to will vote for them on polling day. But this trend which is common in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, is now growing in Karnataka as nobody wants to take any chances," the MLA says.
Seizing the opportunity, the people too are now queuing up before politicians to make their demands for a free pilgrimage, or some free handout or the other, cashing in on their sudden generosity.
