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We cast the first vote

Isn't it a matter of pride that citizens of Bangalore voted before any other city in India did?

LONG HISTORY The first election in Bangalore was held in 1950

People of Bangalore voted to elect members of the Bangalore City Corporation even before adult franchise was introduced in rest of India to elect our first Parliament.

In 1949, the Bangalore Municipal Corporation Act LXIX of 1949 constituted the Bangalore City and the Civil Station area into a single corporation for the purpose of municipal administration. The new Corporation of Bangalore consisted of 50 wards and 75 councillors, of whom 50 were to be elected from the 50 wards of the Corporation; six seats each were reserved for depressed classes and women respectively, and four each were to be elected by labour class and chamber of trade and commerce respectively. Five Aldermen, of whom one was to be a woman, were to be elected by the elected municipal councillors. The term of the members of the Council was three years.

Good progress

Before the merger, the city municipality had made relatively better progress in the underground drainage and street lighting, whereas the civil and military station was ahead in housing schemes and welfare centres. The immediate problem that faced the new Corporation was therefore the establishment of a balance between the two municipalities.

The first election to the Bangalore City Corporation under adult franchise was held on December 23, 1950. The Congress party won 45 seats, while the Socialists and Independents won five and 20 seats each. R. Anantharaman was elected Mayor.

Bangalore as capital city attracted immigrants from outside. Its population, which was 7,78,977 in 1951, increased to 11,41,107 in 1961. Apart from hectic construction activities, the establishment of various public sector units like BHEL, BEL, ISRO, ITI, HMT, ISRO, NAL and so on, saw people from all over the country descending on Bangalore. Being situated in the Southeast corner of the State, the city has attracted immigrants from Tamil Nadu.

A Bangalorean is a multi-linguist and can understand Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The numerical strength of the Kannadigas being low in Bangalore, they have developed a sense of insecurity and fear of being overwhelmed by other linguistic groups. For instance, in 1971, Bangalore Urban Agglomeration comprised a total population of 16,64,208, of which Kannada-speaking people numbered 6,24,565 i.e. 37 per cent while Tamil-speaking numbered 4,32,699, Telugu speakers 3,10,576 and Urdu-speaking people 2,84,134. In 1991, out of the total population of 26,60,088 in Bangalore Corporation limits, Kannada-speaking people numbered 9,26,959, i.e., 34 per cent.

Bangalore is the only metropolitan city where cinemas in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam are screened apart from Kannada and English. The Kannada film industry with its base in Bangalore finds it difficult to sustain interest among its audience in Bangalore (though the situation is better now) and considers Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films being screened in the city as a threat to its survival. The film industry had even tried to enforce a seven-week moratorium on new films in non-Kannada languages.

D.V. Gundappa, the great Kannada scholar, relates an anecdote, when the first session of Kannada Sahitya Parishath at Bangalore in 1915 was addressed by its President, Nanjundaiah, in English. Venkatanaranappa who was sitting in the front row, is said to have ridiculed the English speech of Nanjundaiah as "nonsense". Nanjundaiah who had overheard the remark, later smilingly asked Venkatanaranappa whether "nonsense" was a Kannada word. Nanjundaiah is said to have explained to him that the officials responsible for releasing grants should be made aware of the aspirations of the Kannadigas and hence the need to speak in English.

Now we have trend youngsters of Bangalore speaking Kanglish, a mixture of Kannada and English, due to the influence of increased westernisation and growth of BPO industries where special emphasis is laid on acquiring American accent.

S. SRINIVAS

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