Bangalore: 14 in the fray get corporate push

Majority of youths in cities are growing cynical about politicians and the poll process and the city of Bangalore is no different

Majority of youths in cities are growing cynical about politicians and the poll process and the city of Bangalore is no different. Home to nine million people where the average age of the voter is 27 years,the low voter turnout in the past proves the point.

However,a citizens group,Bangalore Political Action Committee B.PAC,formed by the eminent persons in the city earlier this year,is doing its best to make a difference. The plan is to focus on the educated middle-class and persuade them to vote by backing candidates with clean image.

Concieved by business leaders like Biocon chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy and board member T V Mohandas Pai,the group aims to establish good governance and improve the flagging infrastructure in the city.

The group claims that it is party-agnostic and personality centric in its approach towards backing candidates. On Saturday,B.PAC announced a list of 14 candidates that it has decided to endorse in the election from the 270 candidates contesting across the city. Four of them have a doctorate degree and all parties are represented. We believe they are capable of delivering good governance. We hope at least some of them win. We will continue to engage with them once they are elected, Mazumdar-Shaw said. The city sends 27 legislators to the 225-member Assembly.

The candidates were assessed on the basis of their level of education,past political and social record,absence of criminal record and so on, said Pai. He said the group represents the interest of the educated middle-class in Bangalore that forms about 40 per cent of the electorate.

The group will not just back these candidates in debates and events,but will also fund their campaign up to Rs 5 lakh per candidate from a Rs 1-crore pool generated through public donations.

It is a fact that election campaigns are illicitly-funded beyond the official limit of Rs 15 lakh per candidate. If citizens want to engage with politics and politicians,it is important to vote and to legitimise campaign funding, Mazumdar-Shaw said. While the poll panel has been working with NGOs to enrol over 65 per cent of eligible voters,B.PAC too chipped in. It helped register six lakh first-time voters by organising flash mobs and urging citizens to vote.

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The group members include sportspersons like Ashwini Nachappa,Charu Sharma and Nisha Millet,danseuse Vani Ganapathy,and branding executives. According to Pai,B.PAC is a lobby for the educated middle-class. A week ahead of polls,the groups has endorsed candidates from constituencies like Bangalore South and Malleswaram where there is a large presence of educated middle-class.