ELECTIONS

October 2. Apart from being Gandhi Jayanthi, this is also one of the days on which Grama Sabha takes place in the state. Grama Sabha, in which all the voters of a village meet, takes place four times a year (on Jan 6, May 1, Aug 15 and Oct 2), and offers a forum for villagers to raise their voices on matters of village governance in the presence of its representatives and officials from the administration. It is an avenue for community participation in governance, a step towards Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj (Village self-rule). Now, take a step closer home,…

A tiny kiosk on the congested DF Road in Mogappair bustles with customers on any week day. R Dakshinamurthy, the owner of the kiosk stall wears a smiling face, as he infuses tea leaves in the aluminum container and lets it brew for a few minutes. His happy face turns anxious whenever a police official walks towards the stall or passes by. Dakshinamurthy is an unauthorized vendor, who has been running the kiosk since three years ago, braving the constant threat of extortion from police and opposition from civil society. He is among the 27,050 vendors waiting for biometric cards…

Election Commission of India (ECI) approved a proposal of a programme for Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls, by the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (CEO-KA). Of the nine listed activities in the letter, we the citizens should note the following: 1. House to house visit by BLOs 16 Jul to 10 Aug 2018 2. Rationalisation of Polling Stations 27 Aug to 15 Sep 2018 3. Publication of integrated electoral rolls 10 Oct 2018 4. Period for claims and objections 10 Oct to 20 Nov 2018 5. Disposal of claims and objections by 20 Dec 2018 6. Final publication of electoral…

Will environmental issues finally bask in the electoral limelight? If events across some of the major Indian cities in the past few years are to go by,  it is definitely the time for green issues to shine. The environmental issues plaguing the internet-savvy electorate as well as the poor sections of these major cities may finally become an integral part of the election discourse. Over the past year, the national capital has garnered the most attention for environmental issues, compared to other major cities in the country. Cleaning of the polluted river Yamuna, considered holy by Hindus, has been a…

Govindaa hari Govindaa.. Munirathna Naidu Govindaa! A video clip starts playing on the mobile. The middle-aged man watching it bursts into laughter. An imitation version of the popular chant that is chanted by people climbing up the Tirupati Hills in Andhra Pradesh has been used to project the misdeeds of Munirathna Naidu, a contestant from Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency in Bengaluru. The constituency had been perceived as sensitive by the Election Commission, and the voting was postponed to May 28, instead of May 15. The political material that lands up on WhatsApp like this is entertaining and opinionated, and makes people form…

“Modi Modi! Modi Modi!” “Twinkle twinkle little star, Yeddyurappa superstar!” Activists belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kept chanting and demonstrating, even as the initial trends showed BJP leading in 112 and more seats, on the counting of Karnataka Vidhan Sabha Elections 2018, on May 15, 2018. https://youtu.be/4ttqO4v-lMs  The members were ecstatic about their party’s perceived majority. Temple Street in Malleshwaram, where Jagannatha Bhavan, BJP’s State Headquarters is located, was full of a sea of flags. Cardboard cutouts of Modi and Yeddyurappa were raised and the party members danced with pride and joy, leading to road blockage near the office.…

The Mysore Grahakara Parishad (MGP) had shared eight problems to be addressed by candidates contesting from Mysuru. MGP made elaborate arrangement to organise first of its kind debate in Mysuru inviting main political party candidates from Chamaraja constituency to interact with the voters. Before launching the initiative, MGP had discussed the concept of public debate with the former Deputy Commissioner, Shivakumar. Earlier we had got a message from Karnataka’s election officer, Sanjiv Kumar that there are no bars to hold such debates. DC was appreciative of our efforts and felt such debates are useful to attract literate voters. But he had…

This article was originally published in the Jan 15-21, 1995 issue of The Sunday Observer. The Indian National Congress that ruled the state then had a tumultuous time with three chief ministers, Veerendra Patil, S.Bangarappa and M. Veerappa Moily ruling the state. In the elections held in 1994 December, Janata Dal won and H D Devegowda became the Chief Minister. The recent outcome of the Karnataka Assembly elections in which the ruling party Indian National Congress (INC) was thrown out and the Janata Dal (JD) was brought back to power has been interpreted (and hailed) as an indication of –…

Ever since the Karnataka Assembly Elections results were announced on May 15, the State has seen high political drama about who would form the next government. With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) short of nine votes for simple majority on the floor of the House, where it has to prove its majority on May 19th, every vote becomes important. Though the Governor of Karnataka gave Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority, the Supreme Court stepped in on May 18th and directed a floor test for the BJP to prove their majority on Saturday reducing the grace period awarded. Among…

A high-decibel campaign followed by exit poll bets and now onto resort drama? Political pundits exclaimed it was a “waveless” election and it was hard to predict who would win. Exit polls predicted both ways, though the majority predicted a small lead for the BJP. Bettings favoured the BJP, while stock market rallied predicting a BJP victory. But what did this election mean to the citizens of Bengaluru? On one hand you had Siddaramaiah who had launched a number of welfare schemes targeting the poor and on the other side, a prime minister seen as a decisive ruler with bold…