Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Bengaluru hotels bait voters with free food on poll day

Bengaluru: Hoteliers in the city are doing their bit to nudge the city's jaded voters to step out in the summer sun and exercise their franchise. 

A number of hotels are trying to bait residents by dangling discounts, free food and sundry offers to encourage citizens to ink their fingers on April 26, when the state goes to polls.

Hoteliers said they wanted to incentivise voting since the turnout in the city has never been great. 

“We want to encourage voters and that is why we came up with the idea," said S P Krishnaraj, Proprietor of Hotel Nisarga Grand on Nrupathunga Road.

Nisarga has announced free khali dosa, laddu, and juice for all voters who visit the hotel after voting.

Krishnaraj said they have been "offering free food during every election since 2018". "Those who visited us last year during the Karnataka Assembly polls have been calling us enquiring if we are running any offers this election as well,” he added.  

Last May, when Karnataka went for Assembly polls, Nisarga Grand was swamped by 51,000 people. And the owners are expecting bigger numbers this year.

P C Rao, President of the Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association (BBHA), said many more hotels might make such announcements by Thursday since they received the permission from the High Court only on Wednesday. 

“The High Court has appreciated our initiative and given the go-ahead,” he said. 

While a few hotels are offering free food, many others are offering a discount on the bill. Considering that elections are on Friday, a few outlets have decided to continue the offers through the weekend.

Apart from hotels, many bakeries are offering discounts on their products. The Iyengars Oven Fresh in Begur has announced a 10% discount on their products for those who show their inked fingers. 

“India is a democracy and voting has to be celebrated like a festival. This is our way of celebrating the festival of voting,” said G K Pramod, Founder, Iyengar's Oven Fresh. 

Hotels are expecting brisk business, expecting an increase in business on voting day as party workers and officials will be on the ground. Many hotels are expecting to sell a large number of food packets. That apart hoteliers are also expecting more families to dine-in by afternoon or evening since it is a holiday.