BENGALURU: Political parties are facing a dearth of potential candidates for the legislative council polls from local bodies as many are hesitating to enter the fray owing to the growing poll expenditure.
Elected members of local bodies across the state, barring zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat whose tenure expired in June, will vote to elect 25 MLCs from 31 districts on December 10. A common complaint is that electioneering has become too expensive, with voters expecting huge amounts of money, costly gifts and liquor parties from the candidates.
The functionaries in-charge of poll campaigns said the tough competition among parties to lure voters has resulted in the rising demand and there are constituencies where candidates have to shell out a whopping Rs 1.25 lakh per vote.
Each district on average has 4,000 voters, of which members of gram panchayats, who technically have no political affiliation, form a major chunk. For instance, there are 3,385 members across 250 gram panchayats in Hassan district and 196 cumulatively from other local bodies, including corporations, city municipal councils and town panchayats.
“Many competent candidates are refraining from contesting elections because they cannot spend so much money and this is why we can’t expect people like MC Nanaiah (former MLC known for his oratorial skills) in the upper house in future,” said senior BJP MLC Lahar Singh Siroya. “What’s most disheartening is that the voters seeking money are elected representatives themselves.”
He said major political parties should sit together to find a solution to this problem, adding that a few like-minded legislators have already started reaching out to BJP, Congress and JD (S) functionaries.
The MLC polls are significant for the ruling BJP since they need to win 12 of the 25 seats to gain a majority in the upper house.
Sources said senior MLCs from Congress, including N Narayanaswamy, C Raghu Achar and Gopalaswamy, have already made it clear that they don’t want to be part of the MLC elections since they are exploring the option of contesting assembly polls in 2023. “The kind of resources we spend in MLC elections are not worth it compared to the privileges we get. We can serve people better if we become members of the assembly since we will have more say in the administration,” said Raghu Achar, who is seeking the Congress ticket from Chitradurga assembly seat.
BJP MLC Mahantesh Kavatagimath said the demand of voters is growing in terms of development as well, and MLCs with limited resources will find it difficult to fulfil them. “A solution to this is to increase the area development fund allocated to an MLC from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore on the lines of MP grants,” said Kavatagimath.
