For perhaps the first time in the region, urban, upwardly mobile dwellers of apartments and gated communities are doing the rounds of adjacent villages soliciting votes.
Trading their badges for home-made pamphlets, 51-year-old Lingaraj Urs and 33-year-old Sampath Ramanujam are contesting elections for a place in the Kannamangala and Seegehalli gram panchayats in Kadugodi.
They are representing the Bruhat Whitefield Residential Community Association (BWRCA) in the elections scheduled for June 2.
Mr. Urs is the managing director of an IT firm while Mr. Ramanujam works in an IT firm.
Urban-rural mix
The area represents a mixture of urban Bengaluru with high-rise apartments and international schools amid the rustic essence of Kadugodi.
“We felt there was no representation of apartment- and gated community dwellers-in the gram panchayat,” said Mr. Urs, whose campaign harps on four “concern areas” — infrastructure, education, health, and environment. His name was suggested after a meeting of various apartment associations in the area.
For Mr. Ramanujam, the transition to GP elections was “natural”. “From my school days, I have been a part of social service organisations. Even after I came here from Tamil Nadu nearly seven years ago, I have been a part of B.PAC and have been interacting with village residents,” he said in fluent Kannada.
The toughest test would be getting their core voter base to come out to the polling booths on June 2. “It is a difficult challenge. The polling day comes on a Tuesday when most IT companies are working. We have to try and get them to vote by 9.30 a.m. itself,” said Mr. Ramanujam.
‘Congenial atmosphere’
When asked if there is indeed an urban-rural divide in the constituency, Mr. Urs said, “The area has a mixed population, but the atmosphere is congenial. By raising certain issues, we are trying to connect with these two sides.”
