Bengalureans visiting home to vote

Karnataka goes to polling on May 10 after a buzzing election campaign by political parties

Bengalureans have flown home from across India and other countries to participate in the Assembly elections on Wednesday.

Ramesh Krishnamurthy logged two additional weeks in Ghana to take time off from May 5 to 27. The Binnypet resident says, “I am a chemical engineer working in an offshore oil and gas field. We work four weeks and then get four weeks off. This time, I worked six weeks straight.”

Rare diseases activist Prasanna Shirol, 54, cut his international trip short to return on May 8. “I was among 25 fellows selected for a wellbeing training programme for social entrepreneurs in Slovenia. It was from April 28 to May 6. I would have liked to extend it by two or three days to travel to neighbouring countries like Austria. But I haven’t missed a single election, so I came back,” says the Malleswaram resident. In the 2018 state assembly elections, Shirol and his wife had taken turns to go out and vote when their daughter was in the ICU.

“Bengaluru always records a poor turnout. If educated people like us don’t exercise our duty, how will this change?” asks Shirol, whose non-profit has submitted a manifesto seeking the implementation of the National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021.

The work-from-home option is coming in handy for some. Kishan R, 25, had moved to Gurugram for a job in a social sector consultancy in February. He returned to Bengaluru in late March to pick up some belongings. “The election date was announced and I told my company that I would like to work from home till voting day. After some deliberations, they understood,” says the RR Nagar resident.

Hope and scepticism

Sharanya Eshwar, 25, has also been working from her Malleswaram home. She flew in from Delhi, the first time since she moved there in March to work as a research associate with a digital media and information platform. She goes back on Friday.

‘Spent 15k on travel to cast my vote...’ — her tweet garnered praise but also cynical comments like ‘One vote will not change anything’. But her resolve is firm as she says: “If you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to question (the people in power).”

Her colleague Shruthi Manjula Mohan returned to Yelahanka from Delhi ahead of voting day. The opinion editor says some of her friends who follow politics actively have come back to Bengaluru to vote, while those who don’t approve of their candidates haven’t.

But more than the intent, it is the financial status that determines if a person can return home to vote, says Dr Aditi R, dental surgeon awaiting results of PG counselling. She flew to Bengaluru from Lucknow on Tuesday. “My husband could not come. He works in medical genetics. He said if he stayed back, he could save a life and that is his priority,” says the Basavanagudi resident. She is voting with the hope that the new government will prioritise healthcare, environment, and Kannada culture and language.

One trip, two goals

Poornima Kannan is on a three-day sojourn to Indiranagar to cast her vote and attend a wedding. On May 11, she will journey back to her minimalistic life in Kalipatti, a village in Tamil Nadu, which she embraced a year ago. The communications consultant says, “I didn’t want to waste my right to express which government I wanted.”

London-based Rakshith Kolar Raju told Metrolife on Monday, he would be touching down in Bengaluru at 4 am on polling day. The 25-year-old marketing professional, who calls himself ‘apolitical’, says, “My birthday is coming up soon. My friends from the US and Singapore will be in town. Gladly, everything fell into place around the election date.”