It is people's power v/s parties in the forthcoming civic polls

It is people's power v/s parties in the forthcoming civic polls

Fed up by the negligence of civic authorities, NGOs and residents' welfare associations are in the process of identifying candidates to clean up the civic mess, bring transparency in administration and ensure public role in urban development, Senthalir S reports

Senthalir S



Politicians will have to battle it out with public representatives in many city wards in the much-delayed forthcoming civic elections.
Residents' welfare associations (RWAs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are fielding candidates to clean up the civic mess, bring transparency in administration and ensure complete public participation in urban development.
"Many of the new corporators of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be from among the people. There is a need to bridge the gap that exists between the political parties and the urban poor. We felt that a person from the community with leadership qualities has to be identified for the candidacy. The NGOs would mobilise support for the individual. We are still in the process of planning and the agenda will be ready in four days," said Lakshapathy of Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA).
For the first time in the city, at least 40 NGOs have come together to form Janadhwani (People's Voice) party to contest the elections. The inception of Janadhwani began when the NGOs took up the initiative to frame people's agenda to place before the political parties contesting the elections.
"During the process, we felt people required a more transparent leadership to solve their problems at local levels, an administration that would hasten the progress of basic infrastructure works and help in empowering the urban poor. To achieve this, Janadhwani was formed. The delimitation of wards and the increase in the number of wards has given them the confidence to contest the elections," said a NGO worker who requested anonymity.
The candidates will be chosen from the community itself. They are likely to contest from areas with large Dalit population such as Laggere, Neelasandra, Lingarajapura, Benniganahalli, Siddhapura, Jayanagar, Kadugondanahalli, Chinnappa Garden, Yeshwanthpur, and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. The first formal meeting to finalise the agenda and logos for Janadhwani was held in October.
"The Janadhwani party will be floated soon. The date is yet to be finalised. Since the elections have been postponed, we had decided to put off the launch," said Lakshapathy.
Besides NGOs, the representatives of RWAs from Citizens' Action Forum are in the fray. Abhyudaya, a group of about 30 RWAs with about 400 volunteers, and Malleswaram Federation consisting of about 20RWAs have identified candidates for the elections. Abhyudaya is planning to field candidates in all the wards of the Padmanabhanagar assembly constituency.
R C Dutt, convenor of federation of RWA of Sanjaynagar, said they had already formed citizen anchors. At least 37 such anchors are there in one ward comprising retired engineers and experts in infrastructure planning who will guide and monitor the implementation of work at the locality.
"We, as residents of the locality, know our needs better. If there are any complaints of encroachments, people can inform the anchors and action would be taken against the encroachers immediately. Thus, we have planned to correct the problems at the local level," he said.
Underlining that money is not an issue for campaigning during the elections, he said "Theatre personalities, and local residents have volunteered to campaign for us. Our top priority would be to provide water, power and good roads."
However, while selecting candidates, some RWAs have fears that politicians, who have been denied tickets, may try to sneak into their camp.