A virtual war

BANGALORE: In the ruthless world of bloggers where spade is not just called a spade, but a dirty digging instrument, the latest casualties are our 'mannina makkalu' Nikhil Gowda and Adam Bidapa. The sons-in-the-soup have been shredded to bits by bloggers, who have taken it upon themselves to see to it that action be taken against Nikhil Gowda and Adam Bidapa.
"Mr Bidapa Jr is lucky to be cooling his heels in Hong Kong than facing the heat here in Bangalore. As if it wasn't enough that he was drunk and under the influence of drugs. He thought, 'let me kick a couple of cops'," says one unforgiving blogger. Nikhil, on the other hand, has been labelled a 'threat to society'.
"If no action is taken this time, he will turn into another Manu Sharma," says another blogger. Bloggers haven't even spared the families. "Prasad Bidapa in an absolutely melodramatic fashion breaks down in front of a couple of newspapers reeling out a story which makes me feel he would have done better if he was in the movies," says one.
But this one takes the cake: "Poor son of the CM. He's only following Gowdagiri. Long live Gowdagiri!" Another mocks at chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's lame reason that it's the lifestyle and big circle of friends responsible for this. "What is the link between high standard of life and violence?" she ridicules.
A few have been critical of media portrayal as well. "The script is typical of a celebrity family throwing its weight about and the police throwing the book at them, citing the cliche 'no one is above law'. Bidapa was painted 'a party animal chasing Page 3' and his wife, 'a respected citizen', was being treated like a common criminal.
Newspapers love such quotes, even if they slam the media. Bidapa, as reporters would say, makes good copy," says a former journalist. Bloggers have even suggested punishments for the celebs.
It's "rigorous imprisonment for one year for assaulting public servants and five years more if found guilty of using narcotic substances" for Adam and "ten years rigorous imprisonment and life-long denial of permission to drive" for the auto-crazy Nikhil. Judith Bidapa faces "500 hours of social service" as punishment from the bloggers.
But what's most striking is the biting sarcasm of blogs against Nikhil, that is a common refrain in cyberspace. "This is a rehearsal of a budding politician. Welcome, Nikhil, you have a bright future as a CM or even PM. You have all the qualities. The next step is buying votes. India's Silicon Valley needs leaders like you."