On Wednesday, Vishnu Varma travelled to the urban constituency of Mangalore South in Dakshina Kannada district to speak to potential voters, candidates and gauge the mood on the ground. READ FULL COVERAGE HERE
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As part of its ongoing coverage of the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018, Indianexpress.com today travelled to Kankumbi village in Khanapur, where construction on the Kalsa canal, now temporarily stopped, has had an impact on its villagers. Located right at the Goa and Karnataka border along the Western Ghats is Khanapur. Blessed with lush green fields, villages in this Karnataka Assembly constituency have for long been cultivating rice (paddy), millets and sugarcane. Also Read: Karnataka Assembly Elections LIVE
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But there’s a threat looming large — one of having some of their villages submerged thanks to a water diversion project on river Mhadei or Mandovi as it is called in Goa.
What are their demands? How is the election unfolding in this largely ignored village? Read less
On Wednesday, Vishnu Varma travelled to the urban constituency of Mangalore South in Dakshina Kannada district to speak to potential voters, candidates and gauge the mood on the ground. READ FULL COVERAGE HERE
There is some hope from residents in Khanapur. Every 15-18 years, the idol of Goddess Laxmi comes to their town where there is a fair for about ten days. Altaf says the municipality has started working on a bridge that will carry a water pipeline and it could come just before the festival next year.
Will 2019 bring them good luck? They hope it does.
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Photo by Aaron Pereira
Khanapur does not have any drinking water supply nor does it have a sewage system. Walk through Khanapur market off Chatrapati chowk and you will see cement tanks that draw water from a borewell below. "Isn't water the most basic necessity? Shouldn't we have it already? It's 70 plus years since Independence but nobody cares," says Altaf Savanur who has a tailoring store in the market. "Most houses here depend on the borewell. Those who are better off can afford to have their own with a sump but what about the poor?" he asks.
Prabhat Hanumant Laxman Hattkar, a former councillor says he founded a society that now ensures at least this part of Khanapur gets clean drinking water. "We suck water out of the borewell, filter it and give it to people. Initially, it used to be free but we incurred a huge electricity cost. Now we charge Rs 10 for twenty litres. If people want a can they can deposit Rs 200 which is refundable." This residents like Laxmi, a mother of two, says comes in handy. "What do we do when we have functions at home? How can we celebrate weddings? This is very useful to us."
photo by Aaron Pereira
Nahu Parshuram is a 35-year-old truck driver from Niponni. He offers to give me a ride from Khanapur to the next village Zamboti. "Where are you from?" he asks, curiously, wondering why I landed up at this sleepy village. Elections, he says, doesn't matter much to the people of this region as the sentiment is largely one-sided -- MES. Parshuram says there is a huge power problem in the region. "What use is the water if we can't pump it to our fields. We need better power facilities. Doesn't matter who is in power, they don't do much for our community."
Photo by Aaron Pereira
Photo by Aaron Pereira
photo by Aaron Pereira
Photo by Aaron Pereira
In Zamboti, there isn't much campaigning for Dr Anjali Nimbalkar, the Congress candidate. Villagers say she's been active for the last three years hoping to secure a win for the Congress which has never won this seat since the first assembly. Villagers say she has spent crores in the last Rhee years distributing bags and books that have her name printed on it. Will that work for her? Interestingly, Dr Anjali is the niece of Ashok Chavan a popular Maharashtra Congress leader.
His nephew Sanjay, who works at an office in town, doing odd jobs. His son was an alcoholic and lost his job at the fire brigade. He's now a watchman at a government school.
Meet 98- year-old Ladu Sukaram Naik. He used to cultivate rice for decades until the Karnataka government decided to build a canal next to his field to divert water away from Mhadei. Naik comes to the field every week and inspects the only two fruit-bearing trees in the area. A jackfruit and a mango tree. 'I used to get forty bags of rice in both monsoon and autumn. Now I can't do anything. The government promised Rs 5 lakh when they took over the land but I only got one. That has been divided among us four brothers.'
Photo by Aaron Pereira
There are no political banners or flyers allowed so the mood here is pretty dull. Candidates, though, have realised that what will now work is targeting voters through rigorous door-to-door campaigning. Result: More party vans with speakers, more volunteers on the ground.
Photo by Aaron Pereira
Photo by Aaron Pereira
Photo by Aaron Pereira
Since the first assembly election, the Congress has never won in this seat.
The poster proudly states that Pawar is their neta, banking on the Marathi sentiment and reassuring voters that their commitment to merging with Maharashtra is still very strong.
Interestingly, despite the Congress having a candidate (Dr Anjali Nimbalkar), Patil's banner has the face of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a member of the UPA.
In Zamboti, Patil holds a quick meeting with his supporters strategising how to ensure votes are not split and that people choose him over Belgaonkar.
(Photo by Aaron Pereira)
(Photo by Aaron Pereira)
In Khanapur, Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti has two factions contesting against each other. Arvind Patil and Vilas Belgaonkar are fighting for the Marathi sentiment vote that this constituency has always stood by.