Pigeons to get votes for BJP: Aye mas-sakali massakali, udd mattakali mattakali

By Shivakumar G Malagi

Bellary/March / 2009

“Aye mas-sakali massakali, udd mattakali mattakali, aye massakali masa masa massakali, udd mattakali mattakali,” a popular song from the Hindi movie “Delhi 6,” seems to have inspired BJP leaders in Bellary including the powerful Reddy brothers to use homing pigeons for the Lok Sabha poll campaign.
Ms Joladarashi Shanthi, sister of health minister B.Sriramulu, is the BJP candidate for this constituency Pigeons were used extensively by the British Army during the Second World War. They were handed over to the Indian police before independence in 1947 and succeeded in carrying messages in monsoon conditions when modern communication devices failed.

The breeding of homing pigeons is common in every locality in this district with many people having hundreds of pigeons in their backyard.

Betting on homing pigeon races is also popular in Bellary.

Aware of the craze for homing pigeons, BJP leaders have decided to use the birds to make Ms Shanthi, hitherto an unknown face in the district, popular among voters.

Pigeon breeders who are friends of Mr Sriramulu— himself an avid keeper of the bird— have gifted as many as 1,000 pigeons to the BJP . “We plan to paint the BJP symbol, Lotus and stick the photograph of the candidate on the birds. We will then let them fly to villages and urban localities in the constituency.

This will help us reach at least 3 lakh voters by March end,” said district BJP spokesperson Sanjay Betageri.

BJP leaders assert that this will also help ensure that the tradition of breeding pigeons does not vanish. “These pigeons are excluded from the Wildlife Protection Act. So they can be used for the campaign. We use them as trusted messengers to reach every voter but we are also opposed to cruelty against animals and birds,” they claimed.

Other poll campaign modes of BJP:

* 10 dance and musical troupes from Bengaluru with noted artistes will perform during the campaign.
* magicians of the state will demonstrate the developmental works of the BJP governments with their “jadoo.”

*Voice recordings of party national leaders seeking votes for Bellary candidate Ms Shanthi and video recordings of developmental works will be played at village meetings.