750-kg apple garland welcomes CM at Hootagalli

Mysuru: Forty-one days to go for the May 12 Assembly election and the election fever seems to have caught up with leaders hitting full-blown campaign trails and the voters too responding positively to political heavyweights.

While political leaders are trying their best to woo the electorate, people, on their part, have adopted novel means to welcome their leaders.

One such unique welcome was given to Chief Minister Siddharamaiah who visited Hootagalli and surrounding areas, a part of Chamundeshwari Constituency, this morning where he was welcomed with a huge garland made of blood-red apples at the signal light junction on the ever-busy Mysuru-Madikeri Road.

It may be recalled that Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar was welcomed with a garland of apples when he visited Mandya recently. Also former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda was welcomed with a huge garland of apples when he visited Nagamangala last week.

The garland was made out of 750 kilograms of apple and was 25 feet in length. So heavy was the garland that it had to be lifted with the help of a crane and the crane brought the garland ahead and touched the open jeep where Siddharamaiah had stood along with other leaders. It was a pleasant surprise for Siddharamaiah who smiled at his supporters and waved at them.

Soon, the leaders atop the open jeep signalled the crane driver to slowly bring down the garland as they feared that it would break. Soon after the garland was brought down and the CM’s open jeep left the venue, there was a mad scramble for apples.

Villagers pulled the apples from the garland and were competing with each other to grab as many fruits as they can.

Chaotic scenes were witnessed as hundreds of villagers crowded to break the apples from the garland. Hundreds of apples were crushed on the road and slippers were strewn all over. Fortunately, there was no stampede. Sources said that the garland was funded by the villagers and they had spent more than Rs. 1.50 lakh to make it.