Taking a leaf out of mobile apps that now guide almost every aspect of our life, like communication, food, travel and entertainment, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has developed three different apps for Android phone users in Bengaluru to ensure transparency this election.

Each app, developed keeping the voters’ convenience in mind, comes with a specific purpose. They work to increase voter awareness, guide them to their polling stations and make it easier for complaints to be registered in case of any violation with regard to the elections, among other uses.

• Election Directory – This app provides users the contact details of all the election officers, along with their designations, for every constituency. If users have any queries on the voters’ list or polling in general, they can call the officers, or send a message through the app.
• Model Code of Conduct – With this app, users can report Model Code of Conduct violations by political parties, by submitting documents like pictures, videos and audio recordings. The app also allows users to add the location at which the violation took place and the name of the political party or the person in question. Users can also write a short note about the violation.
• General Election Quiz – Aiming to increase political literacy, this app follows the idea of teaching through a question and answer format. The users are asked ten questions regarding Indian elections, allowing users to test their election quotient (EQ).

Another app set to be launched soon will guide voters to their polling booths and also inform them of the best route they can take to the booth to avoid traffic.

Though the initial response to these apps was poor, with only around 200 downloads in two weeks, awareness seems to be spreading.

“The response to the apps is picking up. We now have more than 1,000 downloads,” said Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP.

When the apps were launched early this month, Manoj Rajan, Special Commissioner, BBMP had told the Deccan Herald that they had been developed to increase citizen participation in the elections.

The apps are apparently part of the efforts to increase the voter turnout in the city, which was very poor the last election.