Council polls: Cash gold, silver in full flow

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: A day ahead of the Legislative Council polls to 25 seats, crispy currency notes, gold and silver coins, silver ornaments and electronic goods are reportedly being distributed among voters who are local body members by all political parties to make sure the votes are cast in their favour. The results of the polls will be announced on December 15.

The candidates, in a bid to enter the Council, are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. Each voter is allegedly demanding cash ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 depending on the profile of the constituency and the candidate. For the elected representatives o f l o c a l bodies, this is the only time that many of them receive such goodies and gifts from the candidates and political parties. In fact many vot- ers have allegedly fixed the rate for their votes leaving no scope for bargaining as other candidates would be more than willing to splurge money and ‘buy’ their votes.

Two days ago, a candidate of a national party was allegedly caught on camera offering Rs 7,500 to each voter at a village in Kolar district along with the picture of Lord Venkateshwara and ‘laddu’ prasadam. After distributing the money, voters were reportedly asked to take an oath that they would vote for him and nobody else. When this news reached rival candidates, they arrived on the spot only to see the voters flee the place. This video has gone viral on social media.

In another incident, a candidate was caught red-handed distributing saris, blouses and cash among women voters and asking them to make ‘Aane’ (oath) that they would vote only for him. The candidate has invited criticism on social media platforms for exploiting innocent voters in the name of god.

A candidate on the condition of anonymity told News Trail that gone are the days when elected representatives voted for suitable candidates without taking money or freebies. Of late, those voters have been ‘corrupted’ by candidates who are more than willing to offer money and other gifts to woo them.

Sources say that in some districts, the rate of each vote is not less than Rs 40,000-50,000 depending on the profile of candidates. Most MLC candidates are spending no less than crores of rupees to win the election on par with Assembly candidates. The only difference is that in the Council polls, the number of voters is much less compared to Assembly elections.

According to sources, the electorate in rural areas is now much more aware of their bargaining power and openly demand money to vote for a particular candidate or party. While some want nothing less than cash, others want gold or silver ornaments or electronic gadgets. Political morality hardly matters in these elections and what finally counts are the goodiescash, gold or silver ornaments, the sources added.