Bengaluru Polls Primer: Why to Vote and Whom to Vote For

A short reckoner on the Bengaluru polls to answer your questions about why and whom to vote for, and where to begin.

Bangalore skyline - vector illustration. (Image: iStock)

With its roughly 10 million (1 crore) population, Bengaluru is bigger than many countries. Bigger than Ireland, New Zealand, Paraguay and Hungary to name a few.

Yet, it has a broken government.

Part of the reason for this is that there are several agencies that run services in the city. Yet another reason is that Bengaluru is one of the densest cities in the world, and the breakneck speed of its growth in the last few decades has meant services can barely keep up with demand.

But what has made things worse is that the city’s services are run by BBMP, a highly corrupt and inefficient organisation. The BBMP badly needs to be restructured but a recent attempt was aborted. Earlier this year, the government of Karnataka passed a plan to divide Bengaluru into three zones, but the governor of Karnataka declined to sign it into law.

Now, Bangaloreans have a chance to improve things. On Saturday, residents can head out to elect corporators in each of their 198 wards. The hope is that Bangaloreans will elect a relatively clean set of corporators, which will in turn spur another attempt to restructure the organisation.

Will Bangaloreans Actually Come Out to Vote?

“Historically, election turnout percentages for the local body elections have been terribly low, in the low 40s to the high 40s,” says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a Rajya Sabha MP from Bengaluru who has run a campaign to get Bangaloreans to vote. It has been one of the most expensive campaigns he has run he says, running into 200-odd hoardings and other advertisements exhorting locals to vote.

Chandrasekhar is confident the turnout will be better this time round:

The awareness has dawned on the people of Bengaluru across the board that the only way that people can get something done now, in terms to changing the destiny of the city is to go out there and exercise their vote. So I think the awareness is higher now than in the past, and the awareness is higher now because people have come to the conclusion that in the past, because they did not vote, we got very poor corporators and therefore we got the government we deserve.
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

Whom Should You Vote For?

The Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC), a citizen’s collective has endorsed 50 candidates across political parties. Out of these, 20 candidates have been trained by BPAC. They represent the BJP, Congress, JDS, and Lok Satta Party (LSP). This list also includes several Independent candidates.

Mohandas Pai, a member of BPAC says:

We believe it will make a difference because most citizens in Bengaluru don’t have the ability to analyse who’s a good candidate, what is the background, etc. So we’re providing an indication by endorsement. It’s up to them to look at it. But whatever we endorse we believe, it will be a critical input for them to make a decision. Even if 10% of the educated middle class go out and increase the voting because of our appeal and endorsements it will make a critical difference.
— Mohandas Pai, BPAC member

Will My Voting Really Achieve Anything?

“The election results could influence the state’s decision to push ahead with restructuring,” says Meera K, Co-founder and Editor of CitizenMatters.in. She continues:

Vote for the best candidate (not party), a good corporator can make up for other factors like he/she belongs to the ruling party at the city, state or centre. Voting, regardless of who wins, will make your representative take you seriously. And engaging with him or her post-elections will make a difference. In the last few years, officials and elected reps are reaching out and engaging more with citizens. This is because Bangaloreans are now more involved, taking initiative to fix our problems, be it rejuvenating a lake or managing waste more sustainably.
— Meera K, CitizenMatters

Alright, I’m Convinced But Where Do I Begin?

For those who’ve only decided to vote now, but don’t quite know where to begin, here’s a primer.