Cricket eclipses election campaign

Party workers from across the party line took the day off from campaigning for Channapatna by-election to watch the India-Pakistan match. Political bosses, however, claim that game had no effect on supporters

The canvassing work for Channapatna by-election took a backseat, ahead of the mounting excitement of the World Cup match that was played between arch rivals India and Pakistan yesterday.

Party workers from across the party line took the day off from the heat and dust of campaign work and chose to remain glued to television sets for the watch the tie.

Campaigning for team India: A group of cricket-crazy fans took to 

the streets to cheer for the Men in Blue. Pic/Satish Badiger

However, leaders of political parties maintained that the cricket match has not affected their campaign in any way. JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy said that the campaign is going as usual and there has been no difference. 

"We have not noticed the absence of party workers. The Indo-Pak cricket match is not important to them. They are more concerned about the big match between JD(S) and BJP in the upcoming elections," 

he said.

Congress spokesperson, V S Ugrappa, averred that the cricket match has less effect on canvassing work as it is happening in rural parts of the state. Party workers campaigning for them are mostly villagers who are less inclined towards cricket than urban party workers, he claimed. 

He added that cricket was hyped beyond imagination due to betting, political mileage and business for media houses. "Due of these factors, people have considered it as war rather than a sport. I would watch the match if time permits, but will definitely not take a day off or miss work for this." he added.

BJP spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar, said, "The cricket match has not affected the ongoing campaign. Work is progressing normally and I have not heard about party workers taking the day off."

Meanwhile, organizers of the canvassing drive across the party admitted that there was a dip in the number of workers yesterday. 

"We can neither deter nor force workers to come to work, as there is lot of sentiment attached to the India-Pakistan match. However, we are managing with the available number and running the show," said an organizer.