B.PAC rates NA Haris as best Congress MLA

Bengaluru: He may have been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, but Congress MLA N.A. Haris has  the highest rating of 84 per cent among the city’s 27 legislators in a ranking given by the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), a non-profit organisation that works towards improving governance.

B.PAC, which released its ratings of the city MLAs on Friday, ranked C V Raman Nagar MLA, S. Raghu, the lowest. It based its assessment on eight parameters: Attendance in assembly, asking of starred questions (structured questions from MLAs to particular ministers), asking of un-starred questions, percentage of MLALAD funds utilised, a  survey by ADR-DAKSH on voter perception, their educational qualification, criminal records and engagement with the social media.

B.PAC found that out of 27 MLAs, 18 had spent 95 per cent  of the MLALAD funds allocated and all  were present on social media. Interestingly, 19 MLAs had zero criminal cases and two had four criminal cases each against them. Also, three are post graduates, 17  graduates, two have studied upto PUC, and five upto class 10. 

Speaking on the occasion , Mrs Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee and CEO, B.PAC , warned the survey was not to be interpreted as a rating of integrity and quality of work undertaken by MLAs." The analysis aims to bring objectivity into electoral discussions and encourage voters to engage with their respective elected representatives to make an informed choice,” she explained.

B.PAC noted that despite being a progressive city, Bengaluru's voter turnout ratio had been rather low at 47.22 per cent and 58.27 per cent respectively during the 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections.