Free movie tickets to give Nikhil LS entry?

Move over saris and cash. Movie tickets seem to be the latest freebies being given away to woo voters for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Residents of Mandya are being handed out free tickets to the movie Seetharama Kalyana starring Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy. Nikhil is being projected as the JD(S) candidate for the Mandya parliamentary seat.

To promote Nikhil and his movie, his supporters have distributed free movie tickets to many houses in Mandya, with most families receiving up to 15 free tickets since Monday.

Jalaja’s family living in Induvalu village received 15 tickets on Monday. “Our entire family went for the show in Mandya. This was a big thing for us since we usually don’t go to cinemas in such large numbers,” she said. Jalaja said that some families are even arranging for vehicles for the show.

The tickets are being distributed by local JD(S) leaders, said Rathnamma, who works at an agarbathi factory near Tubinakere and a resident of Induvalu village. “Some of the gram panchayat leaders who are associated with JD(S) are carrying out the distribution,” she said. “If we ask for more, the party workers are willing to distribute even 30 tickets for a single family,” she said. People are free to view the movie in any theatre in Mandya district.

Another woman, who did not wish to be named, said most theatres were empty before the party workers started distributing free tickets. Nikhil is not only promoting his movie, but is also setting the pace for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, there seems to be a rift between the JD(S) and the Congress as the latter is planning to field Sumalatha, wife of the late Kannada actor Ambareesh.