While BJP candidate Pratap Simha is on the campaign trail in earnest, in Mysore-Kodagu Parliamentary constituency, a section of the party workers, including active women members, feel the party’s campaign managers have failed to take the grassroot level workers into confidence in the ongoing campaign.
A couple of these workers gave vent to their feelings over the way the campaign managers have sidelined the grassroot-level members when Business Standard spoke to them.
“We should have been involved first in the campaign. But, we have been totally ignored this time. It is we who work at the grassroots. But as of now, we stay put in our houses as though we are in no way connected with the party,” a BJP activist said.
“Simha is a novice to both politics and to this constituency. He knows very little about poll campaign management, unlike in the previous elections when a local leader was given the ticket. Simha should have been first introduced to us. He remains a stranger to us with no familiarisation programme,” remarked another senior party worker who has served the party at the state-level.
The ex-corporator alleged: “A coterie has surrounded Simha. They alone are moving with him. Except for a few, other prominent leaders are not to be seen in the ongoing campaign. Simha is an outsider. He does not know anything about local issues,” the former corporator said, even mentioning a few names.
A active woman worker remarked: “So far no meeting has been convened of the grassroot-level workers. Women workers have not been taken into confidence nor told about the campaign,” she lamented.
Asked of the Modi influence and the confidence among the leaders of a victory, she said the youth are no doubt influenced by the wave. But over-confidence would not help.
Another woman member also admitted that no meeting of the women workers had been convened so far though the campaign was launched about 10 days ago. “As honest party workers, we will restrict our work to our area.”
Besides, the oppressive summer heat is making it impossible to actively participate in the campaign. “We cannot go out in this hot sun and fall ill,” she remarked. Today, Mysore recorded temperature of 35 deg C and with the humidity factor, it felt like 37 deg C.
Lamenting at the sidelining of veteran leaders like L K Advani, Yashwanth Sinha and a few others, another local leader was sad over the happenings in the party and issuance of tickets to new faces at the behest of the RSS.
Denying that party workers were not involved in the campaign, MLC Madhusdhan, who is actively engaged in the campaign, said all workers were actively canvassing for Simha.
In Mysore, Chamaraja and Narasimharaja constituency meetings had already taken place and of Narasimharaja would be convened in a day or two. Meetings in Hunsur and Periyapatna had already taken place. “In fact, Simha is already familiar among voters with the first round of campaign ending,” he told Business Standard today.
