Temple town voters look non-chalant
TIRUPATI: These may be crucial by-elections and their importance far-reaching but this is Tirupati and nothing will drown the chant of 'Govinda Govinda' by tonsured pilgrims everywhere you turn. With the byelections just a week away, the religious fervour that envelopes the city like a second skin is intact.
There is political activity, but it is highly localised, and much deterred by the 40 degree C heat of summer. Candidates begin their housecalls early and scurry back into the shade by noon. They are back after 5.30 with their tall promises.
This evening in Veshalamma Temple street, Lagadapati Rajagopal is a sunset campaigner. Congress candidate M Venkataramana, tanned dark by the sun, is in his tow.
Rajagopal's followers try to whip up some fervour by throwing up confetti of petals, but the voters watch warily. Rajagopal plods along with unreciprocated namastes, leaving a traffic jam in his wake.
His retinue raises some 'Jai Congress, jai jai Congress' slogans. When they are out of earshot, cheeky voters repeat after them: 'Bye Congress, bye bye Congress.'
There are no major issues here over which the candidates could joust. 'Our issues are so basic in nature that they cannot be used as gunpowder by any side. For instance, we have a drinking water problem. Similarly, 70,000 houses in this city do not have a toilet. Whose issue is that?' asks V Rama Rao, who works in a private firm.
Unlike in Srikakulam or East or West Godavari, Jagan Mohan Reddy does not seem to define the election here. This even the YSRC workers admit. 'Maybe when Vijayamma and Sharmila come in a couple of days from now,' said one YSRC leader, who did not want to be identified, 'Then there might be some activity among the youth and the SCs.'
Tirupati is an urban constituency. The population is middle class, prone to treating polling day as a holiday. In the 2009 election, polling percentage did not exceed 50 per cent here. So the Jagan Wave needs some more working to whip up.
What is bothering YSRC managers is the presence of two Balija leaders in the fray as TDP and Congress nominees.
Their candidate is a Reddy, B Karunakar Reddy. Though the Reddy votes are said to be safe in the YSRC kitty, the Balijas number about 35,000 in an electorate of 2.5 lakh.
In 2009, they supported Chiranjeevi. He is back, as star campaigner for the Congress this time, but the love has gone. So who will they vote for now?
Chiranjeevi is persona non grata in Tirupati. His recent announcement that he would forever nurture Tirupati although he has moved to the Rajya Sabha came across as insincere, particularly among the Balijas.
During his time as MLA for Tirupati, people say that nothing he did benefited the community nor any individual. 'He was simply not accessible. There is no question of heeding his advice now,' said one leader of the community.
'The Balijas are not a monolithic lot. There are three kinds of Balijas: Setti Balija, Gajula Balija and Ediga Balija. There is no guarantee that all of them will vote en bloc.'
So if the voters are disgusted with the Congress and the TDP, who else but the YSR Congress? But it takes a leap of logic to get there.
In the streets you hear the kind of things undecided voters would say.
One Muslim businessman who did not want his name quoted, said, 'The Congress is a gone case. It has no leader worth his salt. Then the TDP. I am not interested in Chandrababu Naidu because he is not an inspiring personality though the candidate Chadavalada Krishna Murthy is better than the others, he said.
He further said, 'YSR Congress Party candidate B Karunakar Reddy made more enemies than friends when he was the TTD chairman. That leaves us with Jagan Mohan Reddy. But he is corruption personified. So who should I vote for?'
As one street leader in the Pedda Masjid area said, 'Political power is like a honeycomb. Those who handle it are bound have some honey oozing out and smearing their palms. They are tempted to lick the honey. Jagan did not lick the honey. He drank the whole of it.'
News Posted: 6 June, 2012
|
