Rs 50,000 each for 50 B.PAC-backed candidates contesting Bengaluru civic polls

BENGALURU: Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) on Monday endorsed 50 candidates contesting the August 22 BBMP polls. They were picked up from among a pool of 380 candidates in 81 wards. The organisation said it could not evaluate candidates contesting in all the 198 wards citing paucity of time.Of the candidates B.PAC endorsed, 27 are male. "We will pay each of them a token amount of Rs 50,000," said B.PAC president Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

The criteria for endorsement included a number of metrics from political experience, local grass roots impact, engagement with social issues, commitment to good governance and ideas for change. It went by criminal record, history of violence abuse, record of misuse of public office for private gain etc., for grounds of elimination.

"There are more than 1,000 candi dates contesting the BBMP polls. "It was a tough call and after diligent deliberations, the committee con cluded that each of these candidates had something valuable to offer the voters and hence, should be sup ported in their endeavors to represent Bangalore," said Shaw. "We be lieve B.PAC's initiative of endorsing candidates has been a trend-setter in urging parties to field better candidates," said TV Mohandas Pai, B.PAC's vice-president.

Of the endorsed candidates, 21 are from BJP , 17 from Congress, 4 from JD(S), 2 from Lok Satta and six are independents. The names of candidates endorsed by B.PAC is available on its website http:www . bpac . in.