ELECTIONS

This election season, Factly.in has put together a series of videos that seeks to deconstruct various aspects of the massive democratic exercise to make every citizen aware of its history, processes, rules and other relevant information. The second episode breaks down the most important election procedures of voter registration and voting. This is no rocket science and yet it may seem confusing. https://youtu.be/ZPAJfABAksI [This video series is produced by Factly as a part of the YouTube GNI Innovation Funding and has been republished here with permission.]

Finally, the much awaited day is here, when Chennai is all set to choose its representatives in the 17th Lok Sabha. Parliamentary elections this time are distinctive in the fact the median age of the electorate is 27.9 years. For the first time in the history of India, forty-five million young people have become eligible to vote as they turn 18 and have been added to India’s electoral rolls since 2014 (according to ECI data of 2018). Needless to say, therefore, that how India’s young population votes will be one of the major deciding factors in the ongoing elections. Young…

Guwahati, the gateway to the entire Northeast, is not just the most prestigious of Assam’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, but is also seen as an indicator of which way the rest of the North east’s 11 Lok Sabha seats go.  With the state ruled by the BJP, the 2019 Gauhati (as the parliamentary constituency is named) contest, where voting takes place on April 23, is likely to be a closely fought one between two prominent women of the state: film actor and TV personality Bobeeta Sharma, 52 for the Congress and Queen Ojha, 67, former mayor of  the city and…

A G Mourya, retired IPS officer and Makkal Needhi Maiam candidate is contesting from Chennai North parliamentary constituency; rival candidates are DMK’s Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy and DMDK’s former MLA Alagaapuram R Mohanraj. In a candid interview, A G Mourya, an MCC alumnus and the former Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, says he is confident of winning from the constituency, that had been a hot seat for the DMK for ten consecutive elections before 2014, when the AIADMK won it. Here are excerpts from the interview: How do you feel the transition from being a police officer to a politician? It…

Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad is currently a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). He had contested the Lok Sabha election from Bangalore Central in 2014, but had lost to P C Mohan of BJP. Arshad then got elected as MLC in 2016. He is currently the Chairman of the Communications Department of KPCC, and was formerly the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress. Son of an advocate father and a literature teacher, Arshad is a commerce graduate who started his career through student politics in 1995-96. Age: 39 years Education: B Com Website: rizwanarshad.in Facebook: RizwanArshad Twitter: ArshadRizwan Pending…

The National Coalition for Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization, comprised of a group of people across different parts of the country, is involved in exploring questions pertaining to the city and whom the urban is meant for. The Coalition has recently put out a charter, endorsed by 150+ organizations and 2 lakh signatories across 40 cities, that lays out a number of steps that can be taken to make development in cities more inclusive and sustainable, keeping the real ‘Citymakers’ - urban poor and worker groups - and their rights at the centre of discourse and action. Right to Housing and…

The representatives of Federation of OMR Residents Associations (FOMRRA) came together on the afternoon of April 14th to listen to some of the candidates contesting for the Lok Sabha elections from Chennai South constituency. FOMRRA represents nearly three lakh households in gated communities, independent houses and small apartments. The candidates had been sent a set of key questions regarding water supply, sewage network and traffic management which have posed and continue to pose many challenges for the residents over the years. First to speak was Thamizhachi Thangapandian from the DMK. She acknowledged the questions sent to her but added that most…

P Nagarajan was a first time MP from the Coimbatore constituency in 2014, winning on an ADMK ticket. Coimbatore constituency consists of six assembly constituencies -- Singanallur, Sulur, Coimbatore South, Kavundampalayam, Palladam, Coimbatore North. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, P Nagarajan (AIADMK) defeated C P Radhakrishnan (BJP) by 42,016 votes. The constituency, with 17,20,221 voters, saw a voter turnout of 68.40 percent in the 2014 elections, of which Nagarajan secured 36.69 percent votes. P Nagarajan secured this victory on the back of a strong support base for his party in the Kongunad region of Tamil Nadu. [flexiblemap src="http://data.opencity.in/Data/Tamil-Nadu-Parliament-Constituency-Coimbatore-Map-V-1.kml" width="100%"…

Voting for election of the 17th Lok Sabha has started and will be conducted in seven phases in all, concluding on May 19th. And yes, in this magnificent exercise in the world's most populous democracy, it is crucial for every citizen to go out and vote. A high voter turnout puts the onus on elected representatives to discharge their duties and be held accountable for their action and inaction during their time in office. And yet, some of you may still be confused about the nitty gritty as well as the larger questions around the cast of your mandate. Here's a…

Bangalore Rural (parliamentary constituency number 23) comprises eight assembly constituencies - Anekal, Kunigal, Magadi, Ramanagaram, Kanakapura, Channapatna, Bangalore South and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Bangalore South assembly constituency, comprising wards like Yelachenahalli, Begur and Anjanapura, should not be confused with the Bangalore South parliamentary constituency. Not yet in its teens, Bangalore Rural constituency was created during the delimitation in 2008. The current chief minister of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S), was the first MP to be elected from this constituency, in 2009. Since 2013, D K Suresh of Congress has been the MP here. The demography of the constituency is largely…