Karnataka is witnessing the election tamasha — a great spectacle with plenty of sound and fury. There are manifestos, but one wonders whether even the candidates bother to read them. There is little of substance to help voters decide between political parties on the basis of how they will fix the myriad problems that plague our cities and why they are deserving of our vote. One cannot help thinking of the entire exercise as akin to rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic as it heads towards the iceberg. There is hardly any talk of necessary course correction to avert the looming disaster that awaits our unplanned, runaway cities.
Bengaluru, for instance, is on course to double its population to 20 million by around 2030. We are witness to a declining quality of life in the current city. So, it’s fair to wonder what the vision is of our prospective leaders to head off the upcoming shipwreck as they seek our vote this May. There is a serious trust deficit between citizens and the elected representatives. So, can we expect less grandstanding and more openness to discuss solutions to fix the trust deficit?