Dynasts battle it out on the Kolar gold fields that have lost their sheen

In the 1980s, Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), aka the City of Gold, was abuzz with life. Gold mining was on in full swing, Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) was running to full capacity and the huge workforce was a happier lot. The town still had space for people coming in search of jobs from Karnataka as well as neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Cut to 2018. KGF is eviscerated, BGML has become defunct and the mines are an abyss of despair. Thousands of people board the Swarna Express train from KGF to Bengaluru every morning in search of the day’s square meal.


The demand for BGML’s revival, which used to be a poll plank till recently, has no takers now as people have realized it’s futility.

“We had been urging successive governments to bring industries to KGF. We have 12,000 acres of BGML land, infrastructure and very good rail link. KGF’s proximity to Bengaluru can be utilised to de-congest of the state capital. But no government is taking interest,” rues K Rajendran, chairman of KGF Citizens Rights and Protection Forum.

“I don’t know what is the status of BGML and whether it can be revived or not. All I know is people in KGF are in need of industries and jobs and I will work in this direction,’’ says BJP’s Ashwini Sampangi, the youngest candidate in the fray in this election at 26.

Ashwini is largely dependent on her father and former MLA Y Sampangi’s popularity. But anti-incumbency against her grandmother Y Ramakka, the sitting MLA, is something she can’t wish away.

She is facing a tough fight from Congress’s M Roopakala, daughter of seven-time Kolar MP KH Muniyappa. Roopakala, who was trounced by Ashwini in the ZP polls, is working to avenge the defeat. Besides her father’s influence and the network of party workers, she draws her strength from her own loan melas.

As director of DCC bank, Roopakala has helped nearly 50,000 women of self help groups avail interest-free loans between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000. “Whatever little I have done to empower rural women will help me win this election,” says Roopkala.

The presence of three-time MLA M Backthavachalam of JD(S) and two- time MLA S Rajendran of RPI has made this election more intense as they hold sway over sections of voters in the constituency.