Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP Tejasvi Surya, Bangalore South

Tejasvi Surya has highlighted transport and water issues, but has faced backlash for communal remarks; his assets have increased by over 2,500%.

One of the youngest MPs elected in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, Tejasvi Surya from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represents Bangalore South Parliamentary Constituency. He also continues to be the National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha-a post he has held from 2020. Since 2014, Surya has been an active contributor to BJP, by organising rallies and campaigns. He also represented many BJP leaders as a lawyer, and helped B S Yediyurappa in defending him in corruption cases. 

Since September 2019, Surya has been a member of Joint Committee on Offices of Profit and Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology. Post the demise of Ananth Kumar, who represented Bangalore South since 1996, BJP chose Surya to take his place, making him the youngest MP to represent BJP. 

In 2019, Surya got 62.2% of the total 1,184,745 votes cast in the Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency. He won, defeating his rival B K Hariprasad from the Indian National Congress (INC), with a margin of 3,31,192 votes, where Hariprasad only secured 34.3% of the total votes cast. 

Tejasvi Surya: Personal information  

NameL S Tejasvi Surya
Age33 years
Political PartyBJP
Educational QualificationGraduate Professional BAL, LLB From Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies, Bangalore In 2013 
ProfessionAdvocate
Enrolled as Voter in170 Basavanagudi (Karnataka) constituency, at Serial no 32 in Part no 79
Emailcontact@tejasvisurya.in
Contact Number9916836964
AddressNo. 381, 1st A Main Road, Near Vivekananda Park, Girinagar, 1st Phase, Bengaluru-560085, Karnataka
Source: myneta.info

Online presence: 

Criminal Cases

Tejasvi Surya has three pending criminal cases against him. Following are the charges against him:

  • Promoting enmity between classes and maliciously insulting the religion or religious beliefs of any class (Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code and Section 123(3A) of the Representation of People Act)
  • Unlawful Assembly, disobedience to order lawfully made by public servant, causing obstruction in public way or public nuisance (Sections 143,149, 188, 283, 290 and 268 of the Indian Penal Code)
  • Unlawful Assembly, Rioting, Obstructing public servant, disobedience to order lawfully made by public servant, voluntarily causing hurt assault to (Sections 143, 147, 149, 186, 188, 332, 353 of Indian Penal Code)

Source: myneta.info

Assets and liabilities 


Details
Holdings in 2024 Holdings in 2019
Movable assetsRs. 4.10 croreRs. 14.18 Lakh
Immovable assetsNilNil 
LiabilitiesNil Nil
Source: myneta.info

Surya’s assets increased by more than 2,500% over the last five years. In 2019, his total assets were Rs. 14.18 lakh, which increased to Rs. 4.10 crore in 2024. His immovable assets and liabilities are NIL. As per his affidavit, this huge increase was largely due to investments in mutual funds and shares.

Positions held 

  • In 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024):
  1. Member of Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology 
  2. Member of Joint Committee on Offices of Profit 
  • December 2019: Member of Joint Committee on Data Protection Bill 2019 
  • Member of Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance 

Read more: Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP — Dayanidhi Maran, Chennai Central


Performance in Parliament

Tejasvi Surya attained 100% attendance in the Budget session 2020 and Special session 2023. His attendance dipped to 44% percent in the Monsoon session 2022 and Budget session 2023, which has been his lowest. His attendance, 77%, was a closer margin to both the National and State average, which was 79% and 71%, respectively. 

MPAttendanceNo of Debates participatedNo of questions askedPrivate Member’s Bill
L S Tejasvi Surya77%363820
National average79%46.12101.5
State average71%15.8210NA
Source: Prsindia

Surya participated in 36 debates, which was significantly higher than the State average, but was much lower when compared to the National average. 

Some of the debates he participated in include: 

  • Regarding need to implement One Nation One Election 
  • Regarding need to regulate sale and purchase of Jan Aushadi medicines through online platform
  • Request to the govt to introduce financial literacy as a part of the formal school and college education system
  • Request to make necessary changes to restart the HAL Airport or create a new terminal at Bidadi or Anekal
  • Regarding EPFO pension 
  • Demands NRC in Karnataka alleging influx of Bangladeshi immigrants
  • The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
  • Regarding the need to merge the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) with Ayushman Bharat Scheme

He asked 382 questions, which was higher than both the National and State average

He actively asked questions majorly focusing on law and justice, finance, health and family welfare, and many more such as: 

The full list of the questions the MP asked and the position he took in debates, is available here 

He did not introduce any private member’s Bill. 

Tejasvi Surya
Tejasvi Surya interacting with his followers. Source: Tejasvi Surya website

MPLADS spending

The total amount recommended by Surya in his term was Rs. 9.9 crore, of which Rs. 5.38 crore was utilised. The balance amount was Rs. 0.07 crore. 

Recommended amountRs 9.9 crore
Utilised amountRs 5.38 crore
Balance Rs 0.07 crore
Source: mplads.gov.in

MP in the news

During his tenure, Surya has raised concerns over transport infrastructural development in the city. Speaking about the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, he insisted that the state government hand over the project to the Union Government and also urged for a full-time director with technical experience in railways to be posted for Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Ltd. (K-RIDE).  

He also claims to have expressed the public’s frustration over the delay of Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), Yellow Line and urged the top officials to make the project roadmap public. He also discussed the progress of Metro phase-3, which is at an advanced stage of approval from the Central government. In his letter to Deputy Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar, he sought funds for a skywalk project proposed between Banashankari Metro Station and the bus terminal, where he expressed that the junction is not safe for pedestrians to cross and reach the bus terminal and by representing the daily commuters of his constituency, he aims at making this route safer. 

When CM Siddaraiamah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar protested against preferential treatment and higher funds for north Indian states, Tejasvi alleged that the former were just using it as an excuse for being unable to fulfill the promises they had made during the Assembly elections. He said that this entire North vs South debate went against the idea of cooperative federalism and accused Congress of playing “a devious game.” 

He hailed Nirmala Sitharaman’s Interim Budget (Vikshit Bharat Budget) proposal to establish a corpus of Rs. 1 lakh crore with 50-year interest-free loan for research and innovation. Surya commented that since Bengaluru is a leader in innovation with institutes like IISc, NIMHANS, HAL etc., this scheme will provide a grand opportunity for the youth to gear towards innovation, research and entrepreneurship. 

Surya also commented on the city running out of water. He specified that the contributing factors include, growth, population, new connections and neglected lake ecosystems. Due to this, the city is relying on distant water sources, which is making water a luxury for common people. Surya proposed short-term solutions like redrilling borewells and long-term solutions like rainwater harvesting and Cauvery phase 6 implementation. 

He launched the ‘MP Covid-19 Home Delivery’ to deliver essentials in Katriguppe during the pandemic in 2021. It connected residents to neighbourhood stores instead of a warehouse. He also launched the COVID Raksha helpline 2.0 for residents of Bangalore South.

Surya has however made controversial and communal remarks. In 2019, he said “only illiterates and puncture-wallahs” are opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at a pro-CAA rally in the city.

In 2021, during the second wave of COVID-19, Surya made communal comments regarding the bed allocation scam, alleging the involvement of 17 Muslim officials in the coronavirus war room. Even though media reports said he apologised to coronavirus war room officials for the allegations, in a tweet, Surya denied this saying: ‘When one has no news, they create fake news’.

In March 2024, Halasuru Gate Police filed an FIR against three BJP MPs, including Tejasvi Surya, PC Mohan and Shobha Karandlaje. The case was lodged regarding their protest in Nagarathpet demanding the arrest of the assaulters of a shopkeeper. The protest, which included 44 others, was not allowed by the police. Another FIR was filed against Surya for an alleged hate post on social media regarding the Nagarathpet incident. However, the Karnataka High Court stayed further investigation on these cases.

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Comments:

  1. Rajani says:

    Very useful information in nutshell & helpful for the voter. Thanks.

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