Bengaluru: One has to be a crorepati to contest the upcoming BBMP elections, which are likely to be held next month. The trend of spending crores of rupees, once restricted to the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, has now percolated down to urban local body elections, thanks to candidates with money and muscle power entering the arena.
“We have corrupted the system so much that no ordinary person can think of contesting the BBMP elections, even though they might have done social work in their respective wards. Now, everything is measured in terms of money. My heart is racing ever since the decks were cleared for the BBMP elections. I am in two minds whether to contest the elections or not, considering the amount of money that has to be spent for the campaigning,” said a former senior BBMP councillor.
“A few candidates told me that the spent Rs 4-5 crore to win elections. Of the total 198 councillors, only 10-15 per cent have been elected purely on the basis of merit and development works done in their areas. But a majority of them have won spending a couple of crores. For them, becoming a councillor was important, no matter how much money they had to spend. Unfortunately, the perception of voters too has changed in majority of the areas as they expect gifts from candidates," he said.
But Transport Minister and Bangalore district in-charge R. Ramalinga Reddy asked the voters to elect candidates without expecting anything from them. The people should reject candidates who offer money and vote for those with a clean slate. "My friends spent Rs 15,000 when I won as a corporator for the first time in 1983. Need of the hour is to elect honest candidates and not crorepatis,” he said. A senior politician and a former councillor said that he had seen and interacted with candidates who spent Rs 1.25 crore to win the BBMP elections.
“On an average, if candidates of recognised political parties like Congress, BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) spend Rs 1.5 crore each, the total amount spent for each ward would be around Rs 4.5-5 crore. For all 198 wards, the total amount spent by the three major political parties would be a whopping Rs 800-900 crore.
A large amount of money is spent to coax candidates to retire from fray as well as to divide votes." he said. Another former councillor of a national party said that character, background and social work have become outdated, and only money power matters. In the previous BBMP polls, a few doctors, advocates and social workers contested the elections, but they failed to get even hundred votes each. This holds the mirror to the present political set up, he said.
