BANGALORE/BELLARY: The suspense over who will win the fiercely-contested Bellary rural constituency continues even as it goes to the polls on Wednesday.Though all the parties — BJP, Congress and Independent candidate Sriramulu — had done “whatever it takes” to woo the voters in this nerve centre of mining (illegal?), the voters have not yet disclosed their mind, thus sending all parties into wild guessing.Though electioneering in this border town touched upon many topics like development, pride of Bellary and freedom from the Reddy brothers, the election outcome seems to be largely depending on the voting pattern of Muslims and other smaller communities which comprise around 40 per cent of the electorate in the Bellary region.Of the 1.72 lakh voters, Muslims form the major chunk with around 40,000 votes closely followed by the Scheduled Tribes (almost 35,000 votes) to which Sriramulu belongs to. Lingayats and the Scheduled Castes constitute around 45,000 votes, while smaller communities hold as many as 25,000 votes. With the ST and Lingayat votes clearly divided between the BJP and Sriramulu, the fight was for Muslim and other community votes.While the Congress and Sriramulu are eying Muslim votes besides concentrating on SCs, the BJP has set its eyes on the smaller communities like Banjara, Kamma and Balija.Sriramulu, who failed to make much inroads into the Muslim-dominated areas in the 2008 election, is hoping to fare better this time. JD(S) leader Zameer Ahmed helps him win over Muslims.Sriramulu’s desertion from the BJP has also brought him closer to the community to some extent. If he gets a majority of the Muslim votes along with the votes of his community and “personal” votes, then he stands a fair chance. If the Congress cuts into the Muslim and ST vote-banks, it will in all probability help the BJP.The Congress party is, however, concentrating on its traditional vote banks of SCs, Muslims and OBCs apart from highlighting the “corruption and misrule” in the state.The BJP, which started from scratch after the Reddys and Sriramulu deserted the party along with their supporters, has managed to cover a lot of grounds. The party feels the presence of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will guarantee it a minimum of 20,000 Lingayat votes.Apart from state government’s various welfare schemes which have directly benefited over 30,000 voters cutting across caste lines, the party is also hoping to get a majority of the votes of the SC Left sub-group.Of course, the role of money power too cannot be ignored as Bellary is the land of the “richest” who own private choppers, SUVs and palatial bungalows. The seizure of around Rs 30 lakh, despite the presence of election observers and check-posts in the constituency, and the related arrests only signal that money factor also plays a vital role in the election.Besides liquor and other materials, the electorate is being wooed with thousands of rupees per vote, and no party or individual candidate is averse to it, it is said.
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