Politics gets more personal

Politics is getting increasingly personal and politicians practical, with candidates in northern Karnataka lining up even before nondescript tea stalls and roadside vendors taking campaigning to the sidewalks.

Striving to go beyond traditional campaigning tools, including posters and cutouts, aspirants are seeking to ensure personal interactions to have maximum impact on voters. While some candidates have chosen to join morning walkers in their daily exercise in parks, some others are catching people unawares by sharing a cup of tea with them at a restaurant and spreading their political ideology.

Interestingly, nobody is complaining. For the small shop owners and juice vendors, whose lives are mostly restricted to the mundane world of domestic drudgery, the intrusion of politicians are a surprise. “Politicians don’t come frequently to enquire about our well-being. But now that they are coming, it’s a welcome change. It’s better late than never,” said a road-side vendor.

Moreover, these reticent faces have now made it to the front pages of local newspapers, serving hot tea or idli to political aspirants, thanks to the dozens of cameras that accompany the candidate on their campaign trail.