Articles by News Desk

  Bengaluru this week August 21st 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     The big voting day is almost upon us. Tomorrow, Bengaluru will go to polls and we will decide whose hands to leave the fate of the city in. For the past month, Citizen Matters has been covering the BBMP Elections 2015 with much fervour. We hope this helps you with your decision before you cast your vote. Results of BBMP Elections 2010. BJP in orange, Congress in blue, JDS in green and Independent candidates in pink. See our Elections…

Voter roll analysis expert P G Bhat says in his blogpost that finally State Election Commission and Chief Election Officer, Karnataka have synced their voter rolls and around 5,00,000 applications have been approved, and deletions made. This means that you can check your name on voter list and go to polling booth with any accepted id card for voting. In his blogpost on his blog PG's Pensive, he explains it all: State Election Commission (SEC), an organ of the state government, is responsible to conduct local body elections. Thus, it does not enjoy autonomy like Election Commission of India(ECI). Rules…

On August 14th, contestants from Sanjay Nagar ward came together for a candidate meet organised by Namma Bengaluru Foundation. Participants included candidates from three major political parties, as well as an independent candidate. The issues discussed included property taxes, eliminating free parking, and ways to address the stray dog problem in the neighbourhood. Candidates: BJP: Indira Subhash INC: Sudha Jayasimha JDS: Putta Madamma Independent candidate (IND): Geetha G/ Malathi Malli Venue: Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Post Office road, Sanjay Nagar Moderators: Sridhar Pabbisetty and Prakash Belavadi What will you do for Bangalore? JDS: I want to serve the community.…

On August 15th, a debate was held between four candidates from four parties all campaigning to represent Varthur. The audience expressed much concern about Varthur Lake and services for locals. The candidates were also asked about procuring funding and providing services such as clean water.  Candidates: BJP: Pushpa Manjunath Congress : Nisha S Vasu JDS: Chamudeshwari BSP: Chandrakala Venue: SDV Mini Party Hall, Near Varthur Government Middle School Mediators: Sridhar Pabbisetty (SP) and Prakash Belawadi (PB) Prakash Belawadi summarised the state of affairs within BBMP and the city. He set the context for questions in the first session: BBMP is…

  Prakash Belawadi Actor and activist Prakash Belawadi is also a member of BPAC - Bangalore Political Action Committee. He had been a candidate in the last BBMP elections in 2010. This time he has helped moderate many ward level debates for Namma Bengaluru Foundation. He responds to some questions related to the upcoming BBMP elections.  During the national elections, you supported BJP and Modi. Given the performance of the last 5 years of BBMP, ruled by the BJP, would you still do the same? No way. Yes, I voted for BJP because of Modi in the Lok Sabha polls.…

Mohandas Pai, Vice-president of B.PAC, responds to a few quick questions by Citizen Matters. Do you really think any party has performed well over the recent years in Bangalore? Any individuals (MLAs or corporators) you have seem performing at a local level? No, but a few (individual) MLAs and corporators have done well. Will this election change anything at BBMP? Yes, if the educated middle class come out and vote in large numbers and get good people in. What are the chances of the BCLIP candidates? How do you think the results themselves will affect the programme? Decent chances if…

He has been an opinion leader on social media, with good number of followers on Twitter. Being a techsavvy politician, he is the hot favourite among the online community. He has been asking people to come out and vote. And he has expressed his support to BJP in the BBMP election 2015. Citizen Matters sent a few questions to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajyasabha MP from Bengaluru who also founded Namma Bengaluru Foundation that works in the area of civic involvement in the city. Here are the questions and Chandrasekhar's answers. Why are you putting in so much effort? We understand you…

BCLIP candidates contesting BBMP elections - 2015, posing alongwith BPAC members. Pic courtesy: BPAC 20 candidates trained under BPAC’s Civic Leadership Incubator Program are contesting the upcoming BBMP elections in Bengaluru. They went through the nine month program where they were equipped with theoretical knowledge, post which they took up many community projects. While ten of the participants have aligned themselves to various political parties (BJP - 3, INC - 1, JDS - 1, Loksatta - 5), the remaining ten are contesting as independent candidates. List of candidates Sl No   Candidate  Ward  Contact # Party Ward number 1 Devika Raj…

A press note from the Power Ministry, Government of Karnataka, presents the sorry state of affairs in the state, that have forced the State government to announce power cuts. Here follows the press note: Power Position as on 15.08.2015 The state is having an installed capacity of 10189 MW from the conventional sources, but the present availability is only 6600 to 7300 MW from all the sources due to break down in State & Central generating units and reduced hydro availability. Poor monsoon has taken a toll on hydro availability. As on 15th August, the total storage in the 3…

Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) conducted a ward level debate at Uttarahalli on August 12th. It was the first in a series of eight debates conducted by NBF. Four candidates were invited, three of them attended the debate. Moderators asked questions to all three candidates and then opened the floor for public comments and questions. Candidates BJP: Hanumanthaiah Congress:  Varaprasad Reddy JDS: R D Usha Rani Voter attendance: Approximately 200 Venue: Shanthi Sagar Party Hall, #25, Subramanyapura Main Road, Uttarahalli, Bangalore – 560061 Moderators: Sridhar Pabbisetty and Prakash Belawadi What changes can we see in the next five years? BJP Cauvery…