The post offices, in the city, did brisk business, by selling stamps; thanks to the election to the working committee of Vokkaligara Sangha, scheduled to be held on January 5. As a result, the 25 paise stamps, that are pasted for book-post, were completely sold out.
There are 37,000 Vokkaliga members/voters, who are scattered across the district. As it is highly impossible to seek their votes by visiting them, door-to-door canvassing, the candidates resorted to the easiest method of sending book-post.
The candidates have resorted to a new method of canvassing, by placing advertisements in local dailies and dispatching the newspapers by pasting stamps worth 25 paise, by slashing their expenditure. Stamps worth Rs 9,000 is needed to deliver the dailies to the 37,000 voters.
The postal department, which had not anticipated the situation is facing a severe shortage of stamps. There are 24 candidates in the race for the post of four directors from Mandya district
Newspaper dealers themselves are purchasing stamps from Bangalore and other districts. This has made the Postal department richer and also has kept the staff busy.
While some candidates sought votes by postcards, others opted for inland letter and some others printed format, which was sent by book-post. Many voters have changed their residences, which has turned out to be a headache for postmen.
Postal department employees confirmed the non-availability of 25 paise stamps since the past one week and have sought despatch of huge quantities of stamps from the department. Some candidates have even sought permission to send bulk posts, said officials.
