Both Cong, BJP uncertain of outcome in Mysore

Party workers and leaders are keeping their fingers crossed, awaiting the May 16 outcome when the counting of votes for the Mysore-Kodagu Parliamentary constituency that voted on April 17 will be taken up.

Their anxiety is mounting as the day approaches as the parties are unable to fathom the voters mind this time. The Congress and the BJP had put up a planned approach to their campaign with two of their national leaders, Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi, addressing public rallies.

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda too addressed workers. However, the contest has chiefly boiled down to the Congress and the BJP, the former having made a headstart.

However, workers of both Congress and BJP are unsure of the outcome. They are not confident of the victory of their candidates, be it sitting MP from Congress Adagur H Viswanath or Pratap Simha, propped up from the top to the surprise of the local BJP activists and leaders.

A local BJP leader admitted: “The fight is tough. We cannot confidently predict the possible outcome. Lapses occurred during our campaign. We could not cover many streets or areas in the city and break the Congress hold.”

Though he claimed that two meetings of the Mahila Morcha, the women’s wing of the city’s party unit, were conducted, he reluctantly admitted that many old faces were not involved in the campaign. Many of these active workers, including ex-corporators and former party office-bearers, were not approached to campaign for Simha

There was a feeling in a section that even the party’s city president was not given the due respect, while a ‘coterie’ surrounded Simha, an allegation that had been made by some senior women workers earlier.

Congress too is in a similar predicament. Their workers are unable to confidently predict the outcome on May 17. “The fight is tough. It is difficult to say anything,” remarked a senior leader of the party, speaking to Business Standard.

While the BJP took advantage of the social and electronic media, Congress and JD(S) were possibly unaware of its advantages. There was not a single post of their party on the social media. On the other hand, the Aam Admi Party did a good job posting some pictures of their party candidate, Padmamma, campaigning in the city.

While the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party continuously sent out e-mails and SMS messages to the media of their programmes and press meets, the Congress limited its reach by resorting to conventional handouts that failed to reach a section of the journalists.  

“We should have taken advantage of the social and electronic media.  We continued with our conventional approach,” the local Congress leader admitted.

He was also concerned about the stand of the first-time voters. “Their stand may turn crucial,” the worried Congress leader added. The turnout was higher by over 8 per cent this time over last General Election.