For Capt Gopinath, every Pai counts

Infosys' Mohandas Pai is one of the many volunteers flocking to help 'Gopi' with his campaign. And even the funds for the campaign are coming

For Capt Gopinath, every Pai counts

Infosys' Mohandas Paiu00a0 is one of the many volunteers flocking to help 'Gopi' with his campaign. And even the funds for the campaign are coming

Captain Gopinath's call for volunteers has had about 700 people signing up from corporate honchos like Infosys' Mohandas Pai to students.

Infosys HR head Mohandas Pai walked into Captain Gopinath's house and campaign office yesterday evening and discussed campaign strategies with the volunteers.

He told MiD DAY that he believed Captain Gopinath was the change. "We are here to give him moral support. He is an entrepreneur and he needs to get elected and change the economy," he said.

However, Pai will not campaign for Gopinath on the field though he has donated for the cause. "Gopi is himself a star. He also has a strong group of volunteers campaigning for him," he said.

In a lighter vein, Pai asked the volunteers if they could get some models to campaign with Gopinath. "That Vijay Raj, I didn't know him until he got models with him on Brigade Road. Why don't you get Deepika Padukone to campaign for Gopi? Ask Prasad Bidappa and arrange for some models. You could have an open vehicle with a ramp on which models can sashay. Bring some glamour into the common man's life," he told volunteers amid laughter.

Across the spectrum

The oldest volunteer is a 79-year-old retired KAS officer, T D Srinivas. "I have seen both politics and bureaucracy going down. I read about Capt Gopi and felt he was the right candidate. So, I came to his office a week ago and joined him. I take care of the office work," he said. He comes in everyday at 6 am and works till late in the night.

Gopinath's army friend Colonel Vishu Nair too has been helping out. "I am with Gopi on the field, campaigning with him. I have known him for many years. When he decided to contest elections, I thought I should support him and I'm here," he said.

Then there's Anil Shetty, an aspiring entrepreneur, who joined the volunteers four days back. "Capt Gopi had come to my constituency and I was impressed. So I too joined him," he said.

Students P N Karthik and Shreyas Jairam joined Gopinath two weeks ago. "We had read about him and contacted his campaign office and became a part of the campaign. We go door to door and tell people about Captain Gopinath," said Karthik.

By the people
One of Captain Gopinath's volunteers, investment banker Madhu Kunnate, has been raising funds for the campaign.

"It's not that Captain Gopi can't spend Rs 25 lakh for campaigning. We want people's participation. When the people have contributed, we are accountable to the people. It is all clear. We give receipts for every rupee and have them on record. Everything is transparent. We have our budget worked out and will stick to it. If anyone wants to spend anything more than Re 1, he has to take permission from the top. Rs 25 lakh is too less to reach out to the large constituency and we are working out innovative and low-cost methods," he said.

Kunnate has already collected about Rs 17 lakh and feels that Rs 25 lakh will be easily achieved. "If we cross the Rs 25-lakh mark, we will return the cheques," he said.