As Independent candidate from Jayanagar Assembly segment Ravikrishna Reddy sets out on his campaign in Jayanagar 9th block, his team walks ahead with whistles — his election symbol.
Curious residents gather outside their buildings, alerted by the noise. The constituency has seen a BJP MLA for the last two consecutive terms and Congress MLA thrice before that. Mr. Reddy is pitted against B.N. Vijay Kumar, incumbent MLA, and Sowmya Reddy, Congress candidate.
He is one of 200 Independent candidates who are contesting from 28 constituencies in Bengaluru Urban district. While social media is buzzing with the Congress, BJP and JD(S) indulging in rhetoric, and debates are wired around popular faces, a section of the contestants are making an effort to change this narrative by not aligning themselves with any party. The fact that not a single Independent candidate was able to win in the 2013 elections has not deterred them.
Take the case of Shambhulinge Gowda, a tailor by profession who also runs a coconut vending business. This is busy time for the 56-year-old, who is contesting as an Independent candidate. Mr. Gowda, who sees himself as a Gandhian, is contesting from Dasarahalli and Yeshwantpur constituencies. It is his 16th election, and it is his desire to fight corruption in politics that pushes him to contest repeatedly, though he loses every single time.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, he contested in Srirangapatna and garnered 1.02% of the total votes. Over the years, he has stood for zilla panchayat, councillor, MP and Assembly elections from different constituencies. “Take any political party, they give ticket only to the wealthy. Elections are mostly contested by people with money power. For me, contesting election is an opportunity to create voter awareness. Even though I have never won an election, I have been repeatedly contesting to prove that I cannot be morally defeated,” he said.
A parallel narrative
For Independent candidates, contesting elections is all about creating a parallel narrative to an election process otherwise dominated by the rich and the powerful.
Meera Raghavendra, a practising lawyer and contestant from Padmanabhanagar, echoes a similar thought. Like several others, she too is relying on her savings for the campaign work.
“As a lawyer, I can give free legal service to those in need. However, my reach this way is limited. I decided to contest to make a difference, which is possible becoming an MLA. It is tough being an Independent candidate but I believe people are tired of partisan politics, which mostly focus on caste and religion instead of development.”
Each candidate has come up with his or her own solution for cutting costs for campaign. “I did a lot of ground work in the previous elections. I’m making use of social media and getting responses from people,” said counsellor Vinay Kumar Nayak, a contestant from Hebbal. Mr. Nayak is contesting for the second time. He tried his luck with political parties and decided it was just taking him away from work that he valued. In the future, he dreams of building a party where the underprivileged can become members.
Fighting elections as an Independent comes with challenges too. In the present scenario, do Independents stand a chance? “Establishing oneself as an Independent candidate is a challenge. It requires effort and consistent ground work to reach out to people,” said Mr. Reddy.
