Political parties, leaders ready for Gram Panchayat polls

Political parties and their leaders in the village-level are preparing for the Gram Panchayat (GP) polls, that may be announced soon, as the bypolls to two constituencies – Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar – are over. Although the term of the GPs ended in June, elections are delayed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even though the GP polls are held without any party symbol, most of the candidates are either members of one or the other party or support some party. They aid party leaders in their own way and in turn, get nurtured by the respective leader.

A senior Congress leader said, "Even though our party workers contest GP polls, we have very little to do in the election, not just technically, but practically. The victory of the GP members depend on the candidate himself or herself. Each candidate adopts his or her own strategy, in the election and also arrange for the finances."

"As the BJP is in power, there are chances of it meddling with the reservation for the posts of GP president and vice president. Thus, even if our party members have a majority in a GP, the administration will be vested with the BJP supported members. Besides, the elections are held to elect thousands of members and we cannot go and campaign for all the candidates,” he said.

On the contrary, the BJP, which is a new entrant to the GP polls in the Mysuru region, seems to aid its candidates in an organised way. It has to be noted that Mysuru District In-charge Minister S T Somashekar launched a campaign on November 5, in T Narsipur taluk, to connect with grassroots level party workers, especially in the rural areas, as the prelude to the GP polls. Since the victory of the BJP in the bypolls, on Tuesday, there is a celebratory mood among the BJP workers. The leaders intend to instil confidence among their cadres and win the confidence of the voters, using this celebratory mood.

A BJP leader said, "Even though the BJP has won a few Assembly segments in the Mysuru region, it is a deemed to be a party of the urban people. In the Mysuru region, the Congress and the JD(S) used to be the major players. Since the formation of the government and the victory in the bypoll in KR Pet in Mandya district, our leaders have got hopes that the BJP can make inroads into the rural belt. Especially, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra has given hopes to our leaders that we can play a major role in the GP polls."

"Now, the victory in Sira, Tumakuru district, has further strengthened our organisation. Victories in the GPs will also give us strength to contest the future Assembly and Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

A JD(S) leader said, "The rural people still have confidence in the JD(S) and its leaders. Besides, our party workers are dependent neither on the party nor the party leaders, for any support. Still they eulogise our state and national leaders. Our workers are our strength. All parties claim to have won the maximum number of members, once the GP poll results are announced. However, there is no mechanism to ascertain their claims. Especially, in Mysuru region, the JD(S) has a substantial grassroots level presence. Thus, we are prepared for the GP polls,” he said.