Left, Dalit formation to fight BBMP elections

The coming Bruhat Bengalur Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections will have a new formation, which includes Left parties and Dalit organisations, contesting from all the 198 wards.

The alliance plans to approach the electorate on the broad agenda of addressing the widening gap in access to amenities between the high-income groups and corporates and those living in the lower-middle class areas and bourgeoning slums in the city.

Called the Civic Front, the alliance includes Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI), Praja Vimochana Chaluvali, Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkarvada), Republican Party of India, Indian National League and the Karnataka chapter of the AIADMK.

The draft of the agenda of Civic Front, to be released on August 25, says that the city has seen a spurt in wealth generation, but this is cornered by just 20 per cent of people belonging to the top income group.

Resources cornered

Citing a government document prepared for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects, it says that the top 20 per cent of the population enjoy 63 per cent of the total amenities. The lowest 20 per cent have access to a mere 1.5 per cent. “The BBMP administration is pre-occupied with providing amenities for the domestic and foreign corporates. The corporates and the rich are getting facilities at their doorstep. Land, water and the environment of the city are being ruined for their sake. The discrimination is so glaring that there is serious unrest and discontent among a majority of people,” it adds.

It says further that the living conditions are miserable in the areas inhabited by the poor, workers of the unoganised sectors, dalits, backward classes, minorities and other deprived sections. It adds that the conditions under which the people of the middle classes live are no better. “Thus those sections of the people who have toiled and are toiling to build this city are being constantly pushed into conditions of constant anxiety, insecurity and deprivation,” says the draft.

Mavalli Shankar, convener of the DSS (A), says that the main question Civic Front addresses is: To whom does Bangalore belong? “We need to question the forces driving the developmental agenda which is geared to support the real the estate lobby and corporates. We hope to provide an alternative vision to this,” he said.

CPI(M)’s Bangalore district secretary K. Prakash says that the Civic Front is not a new political party, but a forum of like-minded people and organisations. “We want to involve local residents’ associations also and work on a long-term basis beyond BBMP elections,” he says.

(The Hindu)