Ahead of every election, political parties of every hue ferry thousands of voters from Bengaluru to Kerala. But Covid-19 has broken this decades-old tradition this year, and only about 30 buses have left the city with people ready to cast their votes on Tuesday.
An estimated 12 lakh Keralites are based in Bengaluru, with many recent migrants still holding voting rights in Kerala. Both the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) have had their party mechanisms well-tuned to tap into this vast pool of potential voters, arranging buses and other transport modes.
This year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also entered the fray by offering bus services from six locations in the city to Palakkad, where its candidate, Metroman E Sreedharan is contesting. The bus pickup times were widely circulated in WhatsApp groups of potential voters.
Most buses are headed to the Malabar districts of Kannur, Kasargod, Kozhikode and Malappuram. “This year, the number of buses is very low. Quarantine rules are an issue. But the RT-PCR negative report mandated by the Karnataka government on re-entry is one major factor,” R Muraleedhar, general convenor, Karnataka Kerala Travellers Forum (KKTF), told DH.
Enroute to Kerala, ferrying 1,200 UDF voters in 18 buses, Musthafa said the buses were few in number as people were generally reluctant to take risks. “Despite making arrangements for the RT-PCR tests, many were not willing to travel,” he said. Many voters fear that the elections could trigger another spike in Covid-19 cases.
During the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, about 100 buses had taken voters from Bengaluru. But, as Muraleedhar pointed out, the numbers were much more for the 2016 Assembly elections. Kerala voters are known for their high political awareness, which often remains intact despite migrating to other states on work or education.
The numbers this year are down for another reason: Many IT employees have shifted to their Kerala houses working from home.
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