With about eight months to go for the Assembly elections in Karnataka, politicians are making the best use of Ganesha festival celebrations to reach out to voters. People’s representatives, ticket aspirants, and their supporters are offering donations generously for community celebrations and also distributing gifts to different groups using the pandals.
After restrictions on public celebrations of the festival due to COVID-19 last two years, this time the number of Ganesha pandals in several towns has gone up. Every locality has at least three or four pandals each managed by a separate group. All prominent leaders of the BJP, the Congress, and the JD(S) are said to have offered donations to such groups. For example, in Hassan, many pandals are being identified with political parties, considering the prominent donors.
