Articles by Aruna Natarajan

Chennai Central results on May 23 saw the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran emerging the winner. He beat his nearest rivals Sam Paul (PMK) and Kameela Nasser (MNM) with a comfortable margin. Chennai Central is a diverse constituency with a wide cross-section of voters belonging to all socio-economic classes. There is cultural diversity as well - a sizeable Hindi and Urdu speaking population, apart from Telugus and Malayalis.  It has a significant Muslim population - over 2 lakhs - in Chepauk – Triplicane and Egmore assembly constituencies. Chennai Central Parliamentary constituency is comprised of six assembly constituencies — Villivakkam, Egmore (SC), Harbour,…

Dr Kalanidhi Veeraswamy of the DMK has won from North Chennai. He is the son of veteran DMK leader and former state minister Arcot Veeraswamy. A doctor and graduate of Stanley Medical College, this is Kalanidhi’s political debut. Citizen Matters had interviewed Dr Kalanidhi during the election campaign in April. Here he talks about his plans for improving North Chennai, from closing the Kodangaiyur dump yard to decongestion, from creation of jobs to infrastructure for fisherfolk. What are the problems that people put forth to you over the course of your campaign? The information we got from assembly constituencies and…

Chandni Chowk Parliamentary constituency comprises 10 assembly constituencies: Adarsh Nagar, Shalimar Bagh, Shakur Basti, Tri Nagar, Wazirpur, Model Town, Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal and Ballimaran. The constituency came into existence in its current form after a delimitation exercise in 1993 and 2008. So far, two Lok Sabha elections held in 2009 and 2014 have seen winners from the Congress and BJP respectively.   A total of 26 candidates are contesting from political parties and as independents from Chandni Chowk. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected  29 applications for the constituency for various reasons. According to the…

With inputs from Sri Krishna, Delhi Created as part of the 2008 delimitation exercise, the West Delhi Parliamentary constituency is comprised of 10 assembly constituencies:. Madipur, Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka, Matiala and Najafgarh. So far, two Lok Sabha elections held in 2009 and 2014 have seen winners from the Congress and BJP respectively.   This time, it is an even triangular fight between sitting BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, 41, Mahabal Mishra, 66, of Congress and advocate Balbir Jakhar, 45, of the AAP. The constituency has a large Punjabi and Jat population,…

With inputs from Sri Krishna Known as the Jamuna Paar constituency, East Delhi’s 10 assembly segments, Jangpura, Okhla, Trilokpuri, Kondli, Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, Vishwas Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Shahdara, suffer from infrastructure, sanitation and transport challenges. The constituency, considered one of the least developed areas in the capital, was born out of two delimitation exercises, in 1993 and 2008. So far, two Lok Sabha elections have been held here, with the Congress winning in 2009 and the BJP winning in 2014.  A total of 26 candidates are contesting from political parties and as independents from East Delhi. The…

North East Delhi Parliamentary constituency is comprised of 10 assembly constituencies: Burari, Timarpur, Seemapuri, Rohtas Nagar, Seelampur, Ghonda, Babarpur, Gokalpur, Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar. The constituency came into existence after a delimitation exercise. So far, two Lok Sabha elections held in 2009 and 2014 have seen winners from the Congress and BJP respectively.   This constituency scores the lowest in terms of most Human development indicators. It has the highest number of jhuggi jhopri clusters in Delhi, with roughly 300 of the 800 slum clusters in the capital concentrated here. With 10 assembly segments, nine of them represented by the…

With inputs from Sri Krishna, Delhi New Delhi Parliamentary constituency is comprised of 10 assembly constituencies: Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Moti Nagar, Delhi Cantonment, Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, RK Puram, Greater Kailash. While the constituency has seen shifting loyalties between the BJP and INC, the Aam Aadmi Party made inroads in the previous Lok Sabha elections by polling second. This constituency has a unique history: Since 1992, the party winning this seat has formed the government at the Centre. Of 16 general elections and two by-elections since 1951, the winner here formed the government 13 times.…

Waste management has been an issue that the city has grappled with unsuccessfully in the past. But that might soon change with the Chennai Corporation’s blueprint for reduction of the quantum of waste sent to landfills under a new decentralized system to be implemented city-wide in the coming six months. Corporation Commissioner G Prakash gave us an overview of the changes that can be expected: What are the ongoing efforts in wet waste management in the city? The idea is to make the system of waste management as decentralized as possible. It will reduce the quantum of waste being handled…

What if you had a say in where the public toilets in your ward are situated? Would you like to know exactly how much funds have been allocated for the creation of new civic amenities in your ward? Would you like to meet your corporator and civic authorities to put forth your grievances directly to them? This might seem like a pipe dream for the residents of Chennai (and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu) but a coalition of citizens' groups such as Voice of People, Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, Arappor Iyakkam, Thozhan, Makkal Paadhai and Thannatchi have come together to explore the…

Gajanan Kirtikar is the incumbent MP from Mumbai North West Constituency. A leader of the Shiv Sena Party, he served 19 years as an MLA from Malad assembly constituency. A veteran politician, he has also had a stint as the Home Minister of Maharashtra.   In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Gajanan Kirtikar (Shiv Sena) defeated Gurudas Kamat (INC) by 1,83,028 votes. The constituency, with 17,75,416 voters, had 50.57 % voter turnout in 2014 elections, of which Gajanan obtained 51.91% votes.   Gajanan Kirtikar is running for reelection to the 17th Lok Sabha as part of the Shiv Sena’s alliance…