Panaji: From grocery bags with oil and pulses, to funding ghumat aarti competitions, politicians have made all attempts to woo constituents this Ganesh Chaturthi. With less than five months to go before the state goes to polls, the festive season offers a bonanza to the electorate.In Pernem and Mandrem, where there are multiple aspirants for the party tickets, locals have been showered with bags of refined flour, pulses, green peas, jaggery, incense sticks, sugar and cooking oil. Former PWD principal chief engineer Uttam Parsekar, who is one of the aspirants from Pernem, distributed bags with grocery items, puja materials, and prayer booklets to the local women through the Pernem Seva Trust.With the political battleground heating up, several ticket contenders have erected Ganesh Chaturthi banners across the state but this has also triggered the existing MLAs who have used their clout to remove the banners.Former customs officer Mayur Sawkar said that the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC), at the behest of the Mapusa MLA Joshua Dsouza, removed several of his greeting boards.While festive banners are a welcome part of celebrations, they need to be placed responsibly without compromising road safety.Political observers say that doling out groceries to voters has been a trend during all major festivals including Diwali, Christmas and Ganesh Chaturthi over the past few years. So much so that even those who had shunned this practice ahead of the 2012 assembly elections have joined the bandwagon this time.A case in point is former Congress president Amit Patkar’s four-day festival under the banner of supporting local livelihoods, talent, and tradition. From offering free stalls for local artisans and home businesses alongside headline cultural attractions ranging from ‘dhol Tasha performances and live music to competitions for ghumat aarti and folk dance, aspirants are blending cultural patronage with electoral outreach to capture the hearts and votes of the electorate.The festive break has also given aspiring politicians a chance to visit homes of voters in their constituency.
