Mock polls: Citizens vote for namma issues

Hundreds of residents turned out to cast their vote at the mock polling programme — Nanna Mata, Namma Hita — organised by Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) at Town Hall on Saturday.

At the mock ballot, voters were asked to choose from a list of factors like the candidate’s caste, religion, petty politics, money/muscle power and namma issues. A majority of 292 participants opted for namma issues — a set of basic civic problems that they want solved when the new government takes over.

Voters were also asked to choose between two solutions for a particular issue. Problems like traffic, waste management, better governance practices and commercialisation of residential areas were listed for their choice.

About 300 people from various citizen groups across the city participated in the mock polling. Members of BPAC, Whitefield Rising, I Change Indiranagar, CIVIC, Citizen Action Forum were present. Manjula, a resident of Basavanagudi, said: “There are multiple issues such as caste or religion of politicians and petty politics. (But) I’ll vote based on the issues I face. The other factors do not matter when it comes to voting.”

Tara Krishnaswamy from CfB said the mock polling was a platform to educate city residents to make an informed decision and not to vote based on the caste or religion of a candidate. “A lot of parties are banking on the caste or religion card, but it’s time we go beyond those considerations.”

The exercise revealed that voters are very informed, pointed out Srinivas Alavilli from CFB, expressing hope that it would reflect in the election.