POLL WISE

The average rural voter is able to rattle off caste and community equations in his constituency,unlike most urban voters. JOHNSON TA listens in to discussions at street corners and kirana stores in rural Karnataka

The average rural voter is able to rattle off caste and community equations in his constituency,unlike most urban voters. Our correspondent listens in to discussions at street corners and kirana stores in rural Karnataka
The campaign convoy for former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda has just left a village in the Vokkaliga heartland of Hassan after a 10-minute whistle stop. As the crowd disperses,some people move to a nameless all-purpose store with a big red mobile phone services board.
A discussion soon breaks out. Its going to be a tough fight. There is some discontentment,the BJP is gaining ground here, says the shop owner,Manjunath,who belongs to the Lingayat communitydominant in Karnataka but a minority in the south of the state to the Vokkaligas.

Many people think Deve Gowda works only for the people of his community and caste. There is resentment over it, says Manjunaths wife Lakshmi.
An elderly,bespectacled man,Nagarajanna,standing at the entrance to the store in his white dhoti and shirt,launches into an analysis of the politics of Hassan,saying many people will vote against Gowda since they have not benefited in any way. The others at the store all seem agree with him,nodding gentle approvals.

Another manbig and swarthystrides in,and cant resist butting in. No one here will vote for the BJP. It will be the JD(S). The BJP shot down farmers in Haveri when they went to get fertilisers, he says at the top of his voice. He is a Vokkaliga,his name is Doddanna Gowda. He silences the crowd,saying that Deve Gowda has transformed Hassan and brought a lot of pride to the people. There are no dissenters this time,but there are no nods of approval either,only condescending smiles.

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While caste and community identities disappear in urban melting pots,rural and semi-urban areas are buzzing politics this election season. In corner tea stores,hotels,buses and market places,conversations inevitably turn to the elections. Unlike cities,where citizens in general have a major disconnect from local councillors and the local administration,people in rural areas are closely integrated with local leaders,gram panchayats and the district administration.

With significant cable TV penetration in villages,rural areas also seem more aware of their overall situation in the democratic processbottom up and top down. The arrival of extremely localised vernacular channels and publications for as narrow regions as three or four districts or even a single district has added to local awareness.
The average rural voter seems to be able to rattle off caste and community equations in his constituencies with ease,unlike most urban voters. In the poorer parts a voter might give away his vote for extraneous reasons on account of circumstances but an awareness of ground realities is always there. Across constituencies a common refrain as election approaches invariably is that as things stand we are at an advantage but we must be careful of attempts to lure voters from the other side.

In the north Karnataka town of Bidar,Basava,a taxi driver from the Lingayat community that is these days identified with the BJP,spoke at length about all the candidates in the fray for an assembly by-poll in the region and indicated that the BJP is best placed to win.
He,however,went to on add that a Muslim candidate who is in the fray was the best man but he wouldnt win. Rahim Khan is a good man,probably the best in terms of character,but our people will not vote for him, he said.

The electoral wisdom of people in rural areas is also often astute. At an election rally in the town of Kaikamba in Mangalore,the star speaker the BJP,Ananth Kumar,had a young crowd in splits with his trademark allegories connecting politicians to cricket stars,movie songs and so on. The BJP leader soon also launched personal attacks on rival leaders.

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A 52-year-old man in the crowd,Keshava Poojari,said after the meeting that though the speech was entertaining,he did not like the personal attacks on leaders. No politician is beyond blame. They all have skeletons in the cupboard. Its not correct to call others names. People are not blind and deaf,they understand everything that is happening around them and name calling and abuse is not needed, he said.