City: Bengaluru

Renuka Vishwanathan belongs to a rare breed of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from Karnataka. It goes without saying that she has many broken barriers to her credit. She was a member of the Planning Commission of India, and the first woman Deputy Commissioner in Karnataka posted in Uttara Kannada District, and subsequently posted in Dharward District for a second term. She was also the first woman to become the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Finance Corporation, and the first woman Transport Commissioner of Karnataka. Before retiring she held the coveted post of Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat of…

Bhaskar Prasad is a candidate contesting in Mahadevapura, from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Gauri Mullerpatten and Shravya Sharath interview him, to understand his views on various issues related to Mahadevapura. You are a first-time contestant in Mahadevapura. People don't seem to know much about you. Could you please tell us a little bit about your background, education etc? I have a diploma in Electrical Engineering and a diploma in Performing Arts. These are my educational qualifications. It is not that the people of Mahadevapura don’t know me. For the past 20 years, I have been working for people. In the…

R Ashok, one of BJP’s most recognisable Vokkaliga faces, is a five-time MLA. He currently represents Padmanabhnagar constituency in South Bengaluru, but was first elected from the Uttarahalli constituency in 1997. Ashok has held multiple ministerial berths in the Bharatiya Janata Party government between 2008 and 2013, including Home and Transport. He was one of the Deputy Chief Ministers of the State when the BJP government was in power. He claims credit for modernising the Transport department with enhanced of technology during his tenure as its minister. In the recent times he has been in the news for Bagair Hukum…

Several hundred pourakarmikas gathered at the BBMP Head Office today to demand four months salary. The BBMP, which is the principal employer of these pourakarmikas decided to pay the workers directly from January 2018, and to rid the contract-system that was prevalent earlier. The biometric system that was put in place to identify the number of workers in the city, so that the BBMP can pay them directly has been ridden with discrepancies, thus creating a situation where powrakarmikas who turn up for work every day were marked absent and had their salaries cut. The State Government and BBMP also…

Nalapad Ahmed Haris, the two-term MLA from Shantinagar has most of Bengaluru’s Central Business District fall under him. He started his political career as a member of Youth Congress. He is a first generation MLA, whose father N A Mohammed also had tried his luck in politics. He contested elections from Indian National Congress (INC) in Kasaragod constituency in Kerala during 2004 parliamentary elections, but lost to CPM candidate P Karunakaran. However, Nalapad Senior had laid the foundation for the successful Nalapad Group of Companies which also brought the family close politicians and political parties. He originally hailed from Kerala…

A doctor by qualification, C N Ashwath Narayan has been a long-time Malleshwaram resident. He contested the assembly polls from Malleshwaram thrice, and has won twice, his entry as a winner being in 2008. He, directly or indirectly, was a part of many businesses and charitable trusts, including Padmashree Medicare Private Limited, TKN Global Education Services, Padmashree Charitable Trust, Padmashree Diagnostics and Malleshwaram Sports Foundation, but not anymore. He has been in the news in recent times for the multiple manifesto outreach programs he has been organising. His administrative initiatives have been largely in the medical sector with Health and…

Calling all avid cyclists who believe cycling makes cities safer, better, cleaner and happier. Do you have what it takes to join the league of Bicycle Mayors across the globe and transform transportation in Bengaluru? The initiative, coordinated by ESAF, an NGO, a part of the Bengaluru Coalition for Open Streets (BCOS) will nominate a Bicycle Mayor in Bengaluru to evangelise cycling and put cycling on the city’s agenda. It is a voluntary position for a period of two years. The Bicycle Mayor is the public face of cycling in the city, and brings different stakeholders - both citizens, civil…

He has contested polls three times earlier, and has lost it to more powerful candidates from recognised parties. Yet, former AAP Spokesperson for Karnataka, Ravi Krishna Reddy, is an undeterred independent candidate, who has chosen Jayanagar assembly constituency for the elections going to be held in May 2018. Losing has not killed his spirit, but has only served to invigorate it. Jayanagar is where his journey started a decade ago, when he contested as an independent candidate. After joining political parties for some time, he is back to give the polls another shot, as he believes lawmakers have true power.…

Every year, an MLA is given Rs 2 crores every year, to spend on developmental works in his constituency. There are around 180 expense items sanctioned under Aravind Limabavali’s MLA Local Area Development Funds, out of 10 crores in five years. ☛ Click here to see what an MLA is allowed to spend Local Area Funds on. It appears from the data that Limbavali spent more than half of the funds in building bus shelters.  107 bus shelters costing a total of Rs 5.02 crores have been spent.  There are also curious facts in the way the money was spent. For example, when…

After a meeting with the heads of various political parties, the District Election Officer, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad conducted a press meet to informed the media of nomination procedures for the upcoming election, on Monday, April 16, 2018. The filing of nominations for the polls will begin on 17th April, 11am onwards. Between 17th and 24th, nominations can be filed between 11am and 3pm. The Commissioner specified rules for the nomination process: not more than three vehicles and five people including the candidate can be present within 100m of the office of the RO. Nomination paper and the format for…