BANGALORE: With elections round the corner at Press Club Bangalore, calls seeking votes come as early as 6 am in the morning and at times, post-midnight. During last year’s elections, the journo clan woke up to repeated recorded voice message(s) from a candidate, a first time vote-catching-mode - in PCB’s history. “Just as the voice messages kept coming even after the polling was over. But, we all were surprised by this year’s innovation,” says a member.There’s lot of similarity between the politicians who seek votes and journalists. Both are experts in the ‘vanishing act’ immediately after the polls and one gets to hear them only when the ballot box gets dusted for the next year’s polls. Similarly, there are caste and regional factors that play a role during PCB polls. Vernacular and English press, TV channels and photo journalists, all play pressure tactics by grouping behind their candidates. If PCB sources are to be believed, a leading political party made a futile attempt a couple of years back to make its presence felt during elections! “All political parties watch the PCB polls at very close quarters as they have varied interests,” says a senior journalist.There are over 31 candidates in fray for this year’s polls for four office-bearers’ posts and six positions for committee members. “We have around 1,200 members in PCB, but only 616 journalists are eligible to cast their votes.The rest are defaulters,” says S. Shenoy, award-winning film-maker and PCB general secretary. When asked abut gen-next ideas in campaigning, Shenoy said: “The rivalry lasts only during the election week and then it’s business as usual. Every year, we see more innovations during polls.”So, the coming Sunday, if you plan to take a stroll near the Cubbon Park, don’t miss the action at PCB. After all, you will never see the ‘breaking news’ brigade fighting it openly, so often.
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