Not just political candidates, but even small time painters, caterers, artisans, outdoor advertising agencies are being impacted by the curbs imposed by the Election Commission in this month's assembly elections in Karnataka.
With just a few days to go the polls, it is poll time sans all the fanfare. More importantly for artisans it has become a case of "all poll but no work".
"Poll time often meant that our business was up by 25 per cent. This time however, business has been as usual," says K N Gupta, proprietor of Team Design, an outdoor advertising firm based in the city.
"Every year there are several enquiries by both candidates and their supporters. But this time round, there have been no enquiries. The polls have failed to generate any business this year," said Gupta, whose agency provides hoardings and posters to political parties. Explaining the reasons, he said it is primarily because of the EC's directions.
Secondly, unlike earlier polls, the time between announcement of the polls and its date of schedule was very less, cutting down campaigning time, he said.
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Usually orders are placed a month or fortnight in advance of the requirement. This time there are no orders, he said adding that business from polls have been nil. Conspicuously missing this year is the buzz in small makeshift studios of painters and kitchens of caterers, with the usual orders for bunting, posters, hoardings and free lunches and dinners missing.
Poll time usually meant overtime wages for signboard painters and for veterans who have been on the job of painting cutouts of political leaders and drawing posters.
Also missing is the whiff of onion garnished biryani wafting from makeshift kitchens and the ladles of hot steaming kheer, with local caterers seeing a dip in the orders being placed to feed the usual crowd of campaigners.
"Earlier, we would often receive invites from several parties to be present for their campaigns and would happily attend to them because it meant some good cups of hot tea or some lip smacking biryani for lunch.
However this time the offers just seem to have flowed down to a trickle," says a young campaigner, who goes with local parties to be a part of the crowd that creates a din when the local candidate goes on a road show with hoardings and posters.
It is not just small time artisans who are feeling the pinch, but also the owners of houses, whose walls face the streets, as they used to rent their walls to political parties for publicity.
The chipped walls of these houses get a fresh coat of paint liberally dabbed across it during elections. Besides the houses getting whiter and brighter, it also stood as