Karnataka Elections 2018: Vote before it rains

BENGALURU: Vote before it rains on Saturday- this is the mantra of all the political parties on the day of the Karnataka elections 2018.
Rains, interestingly, was the villain that candidates across parties feared in Bengaluru and some parts of Karnataka as some MLA aspirants and supporters took to social media urging voters to come out before rains hit the IT city as predicted by the Meteorological Centre.
Party workers were mobilised to get people to the polling booths before the downpour began.
The weatherman has predicted intermittent showers, coupled with gusty wind and thunder, in the afternoon and evening. Even during the day, the sky will be cloudy.
“It will rain only in the evening. Showers and gusty winds are expected in large parts of south-interior Karnataka for the nextcoupleof days”,said Geetha Agnihotri, director, Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru.
State Agriculture minister and Byatarayanapura MLA candidate Krishna Byre Gowda was one of the first to tweet "Don't forget to do your bit ! It's really simple and go before the rains hit us again this afternoon."
Congress Party’s social media in-charge Srivatsa also spelt the online rain warning and urged party workers to ensure people turnout in large numbers to cast before the sky opens up.
While General Secretary of BJP Karnataka and Chikkamagaluru MLA CT Ravi poked fun of Bengaluru’s waterlogging state of affairs. "Afternoon rains will result in flooding of the IT City and you might be stranded at home due to the non-availability of boats," he put out through his twitter handle.
Fearing that most of the voters, mainly the middle-class in Bengaluru, may stay indoors in case of heavy rains, unconfirmed reports said that Congress, BJP and JDS workers were out to lure the voters to the booths as per game plan from their respective bosses.
Even though the sun is still shining bright in Bengaluru but politicians are a worried lot as patches of dark clouds hovering around can spoil their chances. After all, every single vote is crucial for parties in the on-going Karnataka Elections 2018.
Even on Friday, late-evening showers pounded the city. The department recorded 34mm rain till 8.30pm. The BBMP control room received flooding complaints from KH Road, Urvashi Theatre, Murphy Town and HBR Layout.