B.PAC Candidate Endorsement for BBMP General Elections 2015

Candidate Endorsement is an important activity under Election Habba, an election awareness initiative by B.PAC to encourage greater citizen participation in the electoral process.

Municipal elections have the largest impact on our everyday lives as basic and essential services like water, roads, sewage all come under the purview of a Corporator. We have more than 1000 candidates who are contesting the BBMP 2015 elections and the residents of Bangalore have a difficult task ahead of them to vote in a responsible and efficient government. Keeping this in mind, B.PAC has undertaken the exercise of endorsing the candidates to enable citizens to make a decision in the best interest of their respective wards.

The endorsement process consisted of an exhaustive review on various parameters.  The committee had multiple review meetings and deliberated for several hours on the information gathered. The key criteria encompassed a number of metrics from political experience, local /grass roots impact, engagement with social issues, commitment to good governance and ideas for change.

Evaluation criteria

Elimination Criteria:

1. Serious criminal record
2. History of violence/abuse (whether convicted in a court of law or not) against women or children
3. Record of misuse of any public office for private gain
4. Shadow contestant (relative of sitting corporators, senior political leaders) where candidate is not socially or politically active in the ward
5. Serious Negative feedback from socially active opinion makers & RWA’s  in the ward

Selection Criteria:

1. Visible engagement in public service
2. Recognition in the community for leadership of civic issues
3. Demonstrated capability to improve the Ward
4. Accessibility to Public
5. No conflict of interest between Public office and Private interest
6. Education Qualification and youth was an added weightage

B.PAC believes that Bengalureans have to contribute towards election expenditures of good candidates and hence has also made a symbolic gesture of financial support to these candidates. B.PAC will request its volunteers to campaign for endorsed candidates. Last year B.PAC had endorsed 14 candidates for the Assembly Elections 2013 and 12 candidates in the parliamentary elections 2014 for the first time in the history of the country. This exercise allowed citizens to make informed choices about the candidates they selected to represent them and also set a very positive trend of the parties fielding better candidates.

A total of 380 candidates in 81 Wards in all 8 BBMP Zones were evaluated and 50 candidates were selected for endorsement of which 23 Female & 27 Male candidates. Below is the list of B.PAC Endorsed Candidates for BBMP General Elections 2015. B.PAC urges the citizens to get to know about the candidates well before casting their valuable vote.

Check this link to know more about the endorsement.