BBMP polls: Beware Congress, Whitefield rising!

Bengaluru: This is a poll that no politician wants, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious why. With BBMP polls less than ten days away, a pro-active residents group Whitefield Rising is now on the warpath.

Out with an election manifesto put together by the beleaguered residents of Mahadevapura, Whitefield, the manifesto is being handed out to existing corporators and to those contesting the elections by the residents, spelling out in no uncertain terms that their ‘immediate areas of concern’ are water, solid waste management, schools, roads, potholes, traffic management, streetlights and parking space.

But members of Whitefield Rising are taking it a step further, by going out to look for contestants and corporators and drawing them into public discussions. The area that contributes a whopping Rs 28,000 crores per year to the state’s GDP sees a per capita expenditure of only roughly Rs 132! The election manifesto is only one part of a long-drawn out campaign that residents and people working in Whitefield have devised, to alert the government that the apathy must end. Or else!

Gives Rs 28,000 Crore to state

The Whitefield area, home to some of the city's largest MNCs and affluent gated communities, contributes Rs 28,000 crore to the state's GDP each year. Yet, there’s no water supply, encroachment is rampant and a drive in or out of the suburb, takes at least two hours on any given day. And that's a modest estimate