In every election anywhere in the country, one is used to cribbing by candidates and their parties of how money and muscle power has played a major role and inevitably all parties complain about their rival candidates and parties. It is always the "others" who are indulging in it and how they are the victims of these two menace, which have grown exponentially in most States in the last couple of decades.

Karnataka is right now witness to an awesome display of money power, which journalists who have been covering elections for decades as well as observers and seasoned politicians themselves, agree is unprecedented. The free flow of money and liquor in these elections has perhaps been unsurpassed, everyone who has been closely watching these elections agree.

No party however much it may protest innocence, is innocent of this display. Congress, the oldest party in this country, which has learnt and taught a few tricks of electoral politics to every other party in the country, however stands hopelessly outsmarted, this time. For journalists who are adept at understanding the mood of the politicians during the elections, it is not difficult to decipher which way the wind is blowing when one meets the candidates.

What is most discernible in these elections, especially in the second phase which goes to polls tomorrow (May16), is the abject helplessness displayed by the Congress leaders, especially in the central and Hyderabad-Karnataka area, of which Bellary is the focal point. The advent of the mining lobby, headed by the Reddy brothers of Bellary, two of the three who are in the fray in the elections, has changed the scenario completely. The cash-rich Reddys who have become the backbone of the BJP in the State, and whose daily income reportedly runs into eight figures(crores for the arithmetically-challenged)  have just bombarded not just the district, but also adjoining districts like Raichur, Koppal, Gadag and even Davanagere, with such huge influx of funds to their party that Congressmen are visibly overwhelmed.

Even a man like K.C.Kondaiah, a former Congress MP from Bellary and an industrialist, who was once considered the Congress money bag, is himself awestruck. "We can't match them by any means", he says. He has chosen to therefore remain out of the fray, and has brought in another mine-lord, Anil Lad, to contest against the middle of the Reddy brothers, Somashekar, a former Mayor of Bellary. Result is the most awesome money power ever witnessed on display by both parties. With the Election Commission laying stringent norms on visible display, the warring mine-lords have evolved various under-cover methods. Handing cash, at the rate of anywhere between Rs.500 to 1,000 per voter, is the most oft-used method. Gold rings, donations to community halls and temples in villages and regular dole of cash to prominent villagers who are known to sway votes in their domain, have been going on for months now, as many villagers confirmed.

M.P.Prakash, the former Deputy Chief Minister, who has left Janata Dal(S) to join Congress, though not before flirting with the BJP for some time, and who is now contesting from Harapanahalli in adjacent Davanagere district is visibly dumbstruck.

The money power of the BJP was also visible in Shikaripur, from where it's Chief Ministerial candidate, B.S.Yeddyurappa is contesting. Many among the tens of thousands of people who had flocked to the Yeddyurappa rally unabashedly admitted to the charges paid to them for bringing the crowds, and the per capita cost! It amounted from Rs.50 to 100 per head plus "pocket money" to come to the rally of Rs.40 to 50. The amount varies from constituency and as one comes towards Bellary from the Malnad region, the amount goes up steadily. The wine stores in the town, about half a dozen of them, had booming business.

What one witnessed in Harapanahalli, a non-descript town in Davanagere district bordering Bellary, was the most incredible sight however. The rally on the last day of campaign organised by the elder Reddy, Karunakar, a sitting MP from Bellary, who is contesting from there was the most "impressive". A sea of people had converged on the town, in all modes of transport and most of the men (one also noticed a couple of women) with "bulging" pockets, courtesy the "pocket money", were all headed to the four wine stores in the town. A quick gulp of the quarter bottle of "original" whisky (some who wanted to save some money settled for half of the quarter bottle, costing Rs.20) and headed to the meeting ground swaying under the bristling sun, occasionally shouting slogans.

It was the biggest congregation of people in any election meeting witnessed in this election so far. Karunakar Reddy had beaten his leader Yeddyurappa's previous day effort at Shikaripur by a far margin.

It was most ironical that the Election Commission which had kept a tight leash during the first phase of polls was almost unseen in most of these places. The evidence of their presence dwindled and virtually became invisible as one travelled from the coastal districts, where the money power on display was minimal, towards Bellary. Apparently we are now informed that the Commission has dispatched a "terror" in the last by-elections in Karnataka which Siddaramaiah won by a whisker, IAS Officer Raymond Peter to Bellary as an observer. It may just be a case of bolting the stable doors after the horses have fled.

For many of us covering elections in Karnataka for a long time, this election is going to be memorable for the awesome money power on display.