The curtains fell on the open campaigning for the gram panchayat elections in Dharwad district on Monday and the candidates engaged in the high pitch campaigning for the last 10 days went into the silent mode for seeking votes. As the gram panchayat polls are not fought on party lines, political big wigs stayed away, and also did not loosen the parties’ purse strings.
The elections to 1,616 seats in the 120 gram panchayats will be held on Wednesday. The campaigning saw candidates unmindful of the scorching heat visiting voters from morning to evening, and seeking their “blessings” with folded hands. There were promises galore from the candidates about what they would do for the village if elected. In some villages, it was feasting time for voters as several candidates kept them happy with breakfast, lunch and dinner even as they spent lavishly. There was no dearth of liquor. The small eateries in the villages made good business too.
For the MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other elected representatives, and other political leaders were in a fix as their supporters were pitched against each other in the same ward for the same seat. Campaigning for one of them would have earned them the wrath of other group. Since GP elections are not fought on party lines, the candidates were not allowed to use party’seaders’ names, photos and symbols while campaigning. The legislators turned this situation to their advantage and stayed off the poll arena and avoided sending financial support and material help to the candidates.
However, the candidates who had worked for the political leaders during the elections to the Parliament/assembly/zilla panchayat/taluk panchayat are sour that they have been left high and dry when the leaders should have helped them.
Those candidates who were gram panchayat members earlier and are seeking another term were ahead in spending. “We are not sure if the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) succeeded in providing guaranteed employment to the unemployed in the village. But, we are sure it enriched the gram panchayat members and others connected with the implementation of the scheme and disbursement of funds. This is evident when we see the way the GP members are spending the money on the elections,” said 75-year old Channappa Patil of Uppinbetageri village.
