​Dilemma in Vokkaliga heartland

The people of Mandya, a constituency which has thrown up many political stalwarts, including former chief minister SM Krishna, are confused. On the one hand, they favour JD(S) MLA M Sreenivas who has consolidated his base, and on the other, they realize it will serve Mandya better to support a party which has a definite chance to rule the state. They reckon that the Congress, in this election, holds a razoredge , and that's how Mandya-da-Gandu Ambareesh is part of the larger picture.
Big ego clashes and infighting in the Congress camp — SM Krishna abstaining from campaigning in Mandya, and a couple of other decisions made by the Congress high command relating to the Vokkaliga belt — has not gone down well with the influential community. That's another reason why the key Vokkaliga vote is still undecided.
The Cauvery issue is big and that’s where the BJP appears to have lost out. The fact that JD(S) supremo HD Kumaraswamy commands respect here and that the JD(S) has promoted many educational facilities, with Mandya Medical College topping the list, may swing the Vokkaliga vote in their favour. However , the Congress camp, after the intentdriven road shows by Ambareesh and other Sandalwood stars, is confident they are making all the right noises and knocking on all the right doors.
The Congress, without avoiding the Cauvery issue, is cleverly focusing on bad roads and the power problem which has hit the city hard, throwing a spanner in the irrigation works. The promise made to promote and improve infrastructure is being appreciated among the rich, while the poor declare that agricultural land and Cauvery water will swing the vote.
Though Kumaraswamy and Ambareesh have managed to garner large crowds at their campaign rallies, the big vote and big ticket to Vidhana Soudha from the sugar bowl of Karnataka are still undecided. Simply put, the sugar is not so sweet and the cane has gone bitter , and that’s the big worry for both the JD(S) and Congress.
The minorities and backward classes are believed to have chosen to go with the Vokkaliga decision simply because they also want to be on the winning side. That’s how big the Vokkaliga vote is in this constituency.
On their part, the Vokkaliga decision makers have decided to wait-and-watch . The BJP is out and it’s now a two-horse race — between the JD(S) and Congress. Who will gallop to fame, is the question. It's a close call and that's how it will remain before the big Vokkaliga decision.