GP election today!

12.05.10 : Karnataka, the first state to practise Panchayati Raj under Abdul Nazeer Sab of the Ramakrishna Hedge govt., way back, is going to polls in the second phase of Gram Panchayat elections now. The first phase was over last week in Udupi district when 2 Taluks recorded about 74% voting and the 3rd, Kundapur Taluk, is going to polls today(May 12, Wednesday). Mangalore region is also covered by polls today in D.K. dt. Voting is from 7 A.M to 5 P.M and there is holiday atmosphere in the coastal region among voters.

15 districts (Dakshina Kannada, Mysore, Chikmagalur, Hasan, Kodagu, Mandya, Chamarajanagara, Udupi (Kundapur), Belagavi, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada districts) are having GP polls today with 2,833 GPs, 40,325 seats, 1.15 lakh candidates are in the contest. There are over 16,000 booths, of which 4537 are considered sensitive and 3228 very sensitive (inflammable), hence thorough police bandobust (safety arrangement) is seen everywhere.

The village Panchayats (governing bodies) generally have no party feelings, but Congress and BJP are fighting it out there up to the district level on several levels (GP, TP, DP, BP and MCP) whenever they can. Naxal fears prevail in Udupi, Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada districts, but voters know the naxals well, and are not afraid to line up at the polling booths today. A 75% polling in rural area is a foregone conclusion. Many seats in GPs in some of the districts are filled up unanimously and without contests, as visualised by Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan, and way back in 1960s when he headed the national Panchayati Raj system.

Later GPs were overtaken by politicians to be MLAs and to wield power as people’s representatives. People taught them a lesson by giving “broken mirror” (split) verdicts in legislatures / parliament. The GPs regained their power under NDA and now BJP in Karnataka.