Dharmapuri: Tinge of pink in a town

VV Balakrishna
First Published : 23 Jul 2010 04:43:13 AM IST
Last Updated : 23 Jul 2010 11:34:04 AM IST

DHARMAPURI: TheGodavari is a disappointment here at Dharmapuri. Midway into the monsoon, the river flows at 2 ft around this town. One can easily cross the river on foot. People here say the river has not flown lower in 100 years.

This tiny town is famous for the temple of Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy. Pilgrims throng to it from far. At the height of the pilgrim season, the precinct teems with devotees at sunrise. Being the ashadha maasam, this is not the pilgrim season. There were hardly five devotees in the temple when the priest performed the day's first puja.

Elsewhere in town, there are few signs that a byelection is being fought here. The bus stand looked deserted, and the Godavari Road was bereft of any large banners, buntings or flags of any colour. Late into the morning, a lone car displaying a TRS pink flexi and blaring a Telangana ditty scuttled along. There was no one in the TDP and Congress election offices. Out in the countryside, the signs of an election were no more evident.

In Nerella village, a student, Srikanth succinctly explained Dharmapuri's indolence. "The Congress and the TDP are not spending any money because they know they'll lose. And the TRS is not spending any money because it knows it will win.'' Later in the day, the TDP candidate Nakka Narayana made his way into Nerella and began a speech. Villagers stopped milling about, gathered around and heard him politely. Villager Lakshmamma said as an aside, "You should have been here yesterday. There were so many more people for the Telangana party's meeting.''

Dharmapuri was once a stronghold of left-wing extremism. There are no naxalite action teams about but the ideology has left its mark on the people here. They dismiss queries about the TRS candidate, Koppula Eswar, saying it doesn't matter who it is as along as they get to make their point. Eswar is of course way ahead in garnering the martryrdom sweepstakes, having resigned his seat last year bowing to what is called the T Sentiment.

In comparison, the TDP candidate Nakka Narayana, a doctor, looks forlorn. No biggy from his party has joined him on the stump, being busy in the Babli drama elsewhere. TDP volunteers wistfully say the absence of Chandrababu Naidu has been a big set back, but locals offer a different take. Teacher Srinivas dismissed the proposition with a wave of his hand: "Babli was just an excuse for Naidu.''

Congress candidate A Lakshman Kumar, a last time loser to the TRS' Eswar, has not been better served than his TDP counterpart in terms of help from the big guns of his party. So, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has been the only star campaigner who has graced Dharmapuri in this election season, the first time he has deigned to do so. On the banks of the low Godavari, a villager expressed his hope for the new state. "In a separate Telangana, we will get our share of the water, and Godavari will flow high again.''