Karnataka poll: Campaign goes into last lap today

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Bengaluru: Did you wake up to loudspeakers blaring and somebody screaming into the megaphone to vote for so-and-so? Did you pick up the morning newspaper and find a bunch of pamphlets dropping from its folds? Or did you have an unusual early morning visitor at the door? With poll candidates left with only two days in which to impress voters, MLA hopefuls in Bengaluru did everything they could to get their message across.
According to Election Commission rules, election campaigning will come to an end on May 3 for the May 5 polls. Hence the dawn of May 2 threw all the candidates into a tizzy to do everything possible to ensure that they reached every last voter.
Campaigning gained pace across the city and loudspeakers blared reco­r­ded messages in the voice of candidates, each claiming he or she was the best candidate in the area, telling voters what their symbol was and the serial number on the ballot paper.
Many small neighbourhood rallies and processions were organised. Motorcycles and cars carrying party flags and candidate photos did rounds of the area.
The rising mercury did not deter the candidates from sweating it out in the heat, either, as they went door-to-door to convince voters.
Candidates exchanged pleasantries with voters with all the humility they could summon. Some even had morning coffee with voters. Sitting down on the roadside or drinking from the public tap, candidates did everything to send out the ‘oh, I am so simple, I am one of you’ message. Children were showered with affection, hugs, and sometimes candies.
All of this was quickly captured by the candidates’ campaign teams on camera and uploaded on Facebook. The social networking sites were a busy arena as some candidates chose to beat their own drums, and others waged the propaganda war against opponents.