BENGALURU: Visitors and vendors at the Jayanagar market on Sunday witnessed a unique political campaign. Two environment organisations decided to goad the public to cut across party lines and vote for eco-friendly politicians who would sustain the greenery of Bengaluru. On the other hand, they are simultaneously campaigning against 'toxic' politicians who are not good for the city.
Bearing placards and mouthing slogans, nearly 60 individuals, donning a bit of green on their clothing, affiliated with the Bangalore Eco Team (BET) and Association of Green Industries and Services (AGIS), took over the market. "We are campaigning for candidates across different parties. Our only objective is to elect MLAs who will work towards a green Bengaluru," said Satish Sood of AIGS. Meanwhile, at Jayanagar, they told anyone bothering to stop by to vote for Sowmya Reddy. Their interest in backing Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy's daughter has no political basis.
Malini Parmar, a BET member, explains, "Remember she had a green wedding. She believes in segregation of garbage at the source and has been carrying out green initiatives throughout," she said. The other two candidates for whom the groups will campaign next weekend are Satish Reddy, BJP candidate from HSR Layout and Renuka Viswanath, former IAS officer and AAP candidate of Shanti Nagar.
"We plan to visit both the areas. Reddy has taken efforts to introduce street composting and helped in purifying the environment. Viswananth has created many women self-help groups in one area in Whitefield and they go around collecting garbage from houses," Parmar says.
The group will also campaign the subsequent weekend against Bengaluru Development Minister and Sarvagna Nagar MLA KJ George and Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavalli, who are billed as "toxic" for the city. "George believes in centralised waste disposal system and non-segregation of garbage at source while Limbavalli is responsible for the Bellandur and Varthur lake problems," the member charged.