Bellary:15 April 2013

The Assembly elections in Karnataka are just three weeks away. In the mining hub of Bellary, the voters are livid.

126 mines in the district have been shut down by the Supreme Court leaving a crore people jobless.

The question is whether the Congress will benefit from the Bharatiya Janata Party's failings.

Bellary still witnesses the largest haul of money and liquor by poll officials.

But after Janardhana Reddy was jailed, his aide Sriramulu's fringe party hasn't made a mark.

The BSR Congress managed to win only a few seats in the recent municipal elections. The BJP, though, is taking a self-righteous plank before the voters.

BJP Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said, "We already expressed regrets and apology. Whatever bad things happened in the government regarding corruption or other chages, for that we apologised."

But, Bellary's voters are livid. The last five years have taught Karnataka politicians one big lesson - the power of the independent. Some Bellary MLAs of the 2008 election are shunning both the BJP and the BSR Congress to go it alone this election. They could then ally with any party that comes to power and call the shots in case of a hung assembly.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com/