Former CM's son on a 30-day fast to woo voters

LONELY CRUSADER: Mahima Patel left JDS to float his own party called the Suvarna Yuga.

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Keywords: Suvarna Yuga , Mahima Patel

Channagiri (Karnataka): A silent revolution is going on in a nondescript village on the banks of Shanthi Sagara. Forty-eight-year-old Mahima Patel, son of former chief minister J H Patel, is on a 30-day fast to cleanse the society in the Channagiri constituency from where he is contesting elections.

Last time, he won on a JDS ticket, but he left it to float his own Suvarna Yuga party.

Now, Patel doesn't go to people asking for votes, instead, his voters visit him. “Response from the people is very good. More than 12,000 voters have already visited me expressing their support,” he said.

Mahima moved from his elite Dollar's Colony residence in Bangalore to an ordinary hut to begin his fast 27 days ago. In an era of moneybag politics, Patel said he wants to prove a point with his style of Gandhigiri.

“Election process is a time where we can make people aware of what is going on…and there are other paths too to conduct elections. That's what I want to show,” Patel said.

Patel, who is a trained pilot and a National Award winning filmmaker, believes that he has moved on and wants to now concentrate on promoting “ethics in public life.”

His unique campaign has struck a chord with the people of Karnataka and his fans visit his makeshift ashram in hordes, some even asking him to bless their children.

(With inputs from Deepa Balakrishnan)