Election effect: Postponed exams, traffic snarls leave citizens miffed

The drama surrounding the just-concluded Assembly elections refuses to die down but the citizens of Bengaluru—from school students to farmers—said they have had enough, and that they cannot bear the noise and distress that has become a part of their life over the past few weeks.

Sudhakar K M, Manager at Reliance, said that on Wednesday evening, the day after the results were announced, it took over an hour to travel from MG Road to his residence on the Palace Road. "A 20 minute journey was stretched for an hour as the traffic was disrupted by mediapersons and politicians gathered around the Governor's house and outside the Hotel Shangri La. It became extremely stressful for me because I had my 3-year-old restless daughter with me," he said.

Students in schools and colleges in the surrpunding areas suffered the same ordeal.

"My family and I went to fill out an application for my sister in Mount Carmel College, but the entrance was completely blocked because of mediapersons using that area to wait for the politicians at Shangri La, which is right next to the college. It took us a great deal of maneuvering to get inside the campus." said Aditya S, a student.

The elections also affected those waiting to write their exams,"Degree exams, for all colleges that come under the Bangalore University, were postponed due to elections. It caused major confusion for both students as well as teachers. This shows there is more importance given to election than to education," said Gaana Reddy, BA student, Christ University.

Nikitha Thomas, a student from Bangalore Institute of Dental Sciences, said that her exams were postponed just two days before they were supposed to begin. "This caused extreme confusion and distress to all of us, because we had already finished studying and were prepared," she said.

Farmers who wanted to get khatha of the land were also inconvenienced as the files did not move due to shifting of officials to election duty.

"Many government offices were almost non-functional due to the elections. I was not able to get a khatha of my land done as the paper work was on hold. Now, the drama doesn't seem to end. I have to wait till a new government is formed," said Mune Gowda, Progressive Farmer.