Click to play videoGulbarga (Karnataka): It will be a nail-biting wait for May 22, when Gulbarga goes to polls, at least for Congress leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge and Dharam Singh, because if they get elected, it will mean they would have broken a Guinness world record by winning from the same constituency nine consecutive times.
Dharam Singh says, "People are saying that it will be a Guinness record. The people have put their faith in me and they know i work for them so they keep re-electing me."
Gulbarga was recently named a reserved Lok Sabha constituency due to its high scheduled caste population, and Mallikarjun Kharge — from the SC community himself — is being touted as a possible Chief Ministerial candidate, a CM with a world record to his name.
But Guinness records aside, there are many issues troubling Gulbarga, like lack of water for irrigation, to a lack of drinking water. Gulbarga's residents get drinking water supply once in four days and sometimes once in eight days.
Says a farmer, Basavaraj, "We have been electing the same candidates time and again, but these people haven't done anything for our betterment. We don't have water to irrigate our fields."
Gulbarga remains one of the most backward districts in the state, a fact blamed on mismanagement and corruption amongst local zila (district) authorities.
Mallikarjuna Kharge says, "We release funds but they don't go reach the people. So we need to periodically review everything and see that the work gets done."
The Congress may be set to win again in their Gulbarga stronghold but basic problems continue to haunt this region. Residents are hoping that maybe a Guinness record would prompt their leaders to take action.
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