Citizens to submit their charter of demands to political parties

Citizens are coming together to chalk out their expectations from candidates and political parties who would be knocking on their doors to seek votes during the Assembly elections.

Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF), a federation representing apartment associations in the city, has created an ‘Apartment Residents Charter’ — a charter of demands to political parties from apartment residents, specifically on “discrimination and harassment” that they face by civic agencies.

In a press release here on Wednesday, BAF’s vice-president Muralidhar Rao claimed that apartment residents had been subjected to “undue and unfair discrimination and harassment by government and civic agencies”. “Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) and Bangaore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) levy commercial tariffs, while we also have to pay cess for garbage and wastewater without services being provided. There are many apartments which still do not have water and sewage connections. All these issues have been highlighted in the charter.”

The BAF, which claims to have more than 250 apartment associations, sought to get commitments from political parties on resolving issues faced by apartment residents. This would form a template for elections after the upcoming Assembly elections, said Srikanth Narasimhan, BAF’s general secretary. “With the Lok Sabha elections the BBMP council elections following in the next two years, we are looking to hold the political parties accountable for the promises they make and the actions they take,” he said.

The BAF will also hold discussions with senior representatives of political parties on April 22 at T. Chowdiah Memorial Hall to discuss the charter.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, volunteers of Citizens for Bengaluru met several councillors at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to deliver the citizens’ manifesto — #PattanadaPatti. They requested them to include the demands in the manifestos of their respective parties for the upcoming elections.

Srinivas Alavilli from CfB said the volunteers were able to meet nearly 50 councillors, most of whom appreciated the work. “We are also meeting all party leaders and MLAs, and will be holding public events. Last week, we met Janata Dal (S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy, who assured us that the citizens’ manifesto would be accorded high priority.”