In many Lok Sabha constituencies across the State, wives of candidates have swung into action in a big way to woo voters on behalf of their husbands. Braving the heat, the spouses are largely concentrating on women voters, who constitute nearly 49% of Karnataka’s electorate.
Meenakshi Byre Gowda, wife of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister and Congress-JD(S) alliance candidate Krishna Byre Gowda, has been the backbone of her husband’s political career. Over the past week, she has been walking the lanes and bylanes of Bengaluru North, campaigning for her husband. An early riser, she starts around 6 a.m. and winds up campaigning only after 9.30 p.m.
With Mr. Byre Gowda’s candidature finalised at the last moment after the JD(S) returned the seat to the Congress after being unable to find a “suitable candidate”, it has been a hectic schedule for Ms. Meenakshi. “Bengaluru North constituency is seven times larger than Byatarayanapura, the Assembly constituency held by my husband. As there is very little time left to cover the entire constituency, we are looking at places such as parks and recreational areas where we can reach out to groups of people. We are also having interactions with women’s groups, professional organisations and residents’ welfare associations,” she said.
Ms. Meenakshi is also playing a vital role in motivating the party cadre and ensuring there is coordination among workers of the coalition parties.
Meanwhile, it has been an uphill task for Shivaleela Kulkarni, wife of Dharwad North Congress candidate Vinay Kulkarni, whose name was cleared in the last minute as well. “We have very little time left [for campaigning]. We are approaching people with the Congress manifesto and the execution of development works in the constituency when my husband was district in-charge Minister during Siddaramaiah’s tenure as Chief Minister,” she said.
In Chikkodi, Shashikala Jolle, a two-time MLA from Nippani, is helping her husband, Anna Saheb Jolle, the BJP candidate, to reach out to women voters through the self-help groups that she promotes through his Sri Beeralingeshwar Cooperative Society.
Datty, wife of Union Statistics and Planning Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, is also out on the streets seeking votes for her husband in Bengaluru North. Accompanied by BJP volunteers, she is doing her best to convince women voters about the achievements of the Narendra Modi government.
Some of them admit that politics is not their cup of tea, but they plunge into action during poll season anyway. “Campaigning is a duty I feel bound to do,” said Jyothi Joshi, wife of Dharwad North BJP candidate Pralhad Joshi. She is braving the heat and dust of the streets of Hubballi-Dharwad, hoping to ensure for her husband a fourth straight win. Ms. Joshi starts her day at 8 a.m. with a team. “We take a break in the afternoon, resume campaigning by 5 p.m., and continue till 9 p.m.,” she said.
The tale of two Ministers’ wives
The wives of two deceased former Union Ministers — M.H. Ambareesh and Ananth Kumar — have been in the news in a big way this election season.
Sumalatha and Tejaswini Ananth Kumar were keen to contest the polls, but while the former dug her heels in and decided to contest as an Independent, the latter fell out of the race. Interestingly, both faced intense pressure from the parties they were keen to contest from — the Congress and BJP, respectively.
Now, Ms. Sumalatha, supported by the BJP and a section of the film fraternity, is posing a tough challenge to JD(S) candidate and Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil K. in Mandya constituency. On the other hand, Ms. Tejaswini failed to make it, with the party giving ticket to the 28-year-old Tejasvi Surya in Bengaluru Central. This has left her unhappy, but in an effort to mollify her, the party has appointed her as State BJP vice-president.
Ms. Tejaswini had been actively involved in campaigns for her husband all through his career, while Ms. Sumalatha was less visibly involved in the political life of Mr. Ambareesh.
