ELECTIONS

Ronur Venkateshappa Devraj is a three-time MLA currently representing the Chickpet constituency. He was previously elected twice from the Chamrajpet constituency, before delimitation of constituencies that changed the borders. His is a rags-to-riches story. Devraj’s father was a vegetable merchant at the city market and Devraj was the fourth son. He started his political career with the Youth Congress in 1970s was the Block Congress Committee Secretary, Chamarajpet. He entered the Assembly in 1989 from Chamrajpet and won the constituency twice consecutively. His close proximity to former Chief Minister S M Krishna was proven when he withdrew his nomination from…

M Krishnappa, or Layout Krishnappa as he is popularly called, is among the richest MLAs in the state given his background in real estate. The Congress leader was an MLC between 2000 to 2006. He even contested the MP elections from Bangalore South. He was the Minister for Housing in the Siddaramaiah cabinet and was the Minister in-charge for Mandya in 2016. The former Minister has been in the news with accusations of land grabbing around the Byrasandra lake being made against him. Krishnappa is among the Congress leaders who has a website for himself, though it is fairly dated…

Dinesh Gundu Rao, a second generation politician is a four-time MLA from Gandhinagar. He is an engineer by qualification but identifies himself as social worker and politician. His father R Gundu Rao was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1980 to 1983. Dinesh started his political career with the Youth Congress and steadily rose through the ranks. He is currently the Working President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. He held an independent charge for Consumer Affairs and also was Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in Siddaramaiah Cabinet. His urban and cosmopolitan image combined with his oratory skills has…

The first term MLA from Hebbal, Jagadish Kumar, replaced his political mentor Katta Subramanya Naidu for the Hebbal constituency, after Naidu’s legal issues saw him imprisoned. Jagadish Kumar died in November of 2015, following a heart attack when he was 58. He was rushed to a private hospital after he complained of uneasiness in his chest during the Assembly session, but collapsed while medical tests were being done. Jagadish who was an active member of the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was a qualified engineer and began his political career in 1993. He was the Bangalore City General Secretary in the…

The six-term MLA, Ramalinga Reddy was first elected from Jayanagar for four times. Then in 2008 when the cosntituency boundaries changed due to delimitation, he shifted to BTM layout which he currently represents for the second time. Reddy was the Home Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, a berth he was given after the resignation of G Parameshwar. Before that he handled the Ministry of Transport. He started his political career as a municipal corporator in 1983. His first stint as a minister started in the Veerappa Moily Cabinet as Minister for Finance and Heavy and Medium Industries. He has held…

Politics did not happen to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Karnataka Convener Prithvi Reddy intentionally. He was a part of Corruption Saku campaign in 2010 (which later merged with India Against Corruption) with no aspirations other than to reduce corruption. He co-founded Smart Vote, a movement to encourage voter registration and participation in issue-based politics. He runs his father’s school of 450 students in Addagal village, Kolar District. Reddy then co-founded Swabal, an initiative to provide practical skills to high school dropouts with guaranteed employment.   He became AAP’s national executive member in 2013. Now he is contesting from Sarvagna Nagar,…

Sathish Reddy, a two-term MLA from Bommanahalli, has a number of infamous spots in his constituency. The notoriously congested Silk Board junction, Karnataka Composting Development Corporation (KCDC), Agara lake and Puttenhalli lakes are a few of them. His constituency also makes news every time there are heavy showers, inundating the residences with water some times as high as four feet. During one such episode, the MLA got into a verbal altercation with a senior forest official Deepika Bajpai and had threatened to slap her which made headlines. Reddy has an agricultural background and is known to have real estate dealings.…

S Raghu started his political career as a municipal corporator from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1996. He has won twice from his current constituency of C V Raman Nagar which is reserved under SC/ST category. Previously he represented the Shanthinagar constituency. Some of Bengaluru’s most discussed land marks and civic problems fall under the C V Raman constituency. Public transport/connectivity to the high density Bagmane Tech Park; the cleaning up of the 45 acre Kaggadaspura Lake; portions of Indiranagar which are still reeling under rampant commercialisation are among a few noted ones. A lot of highly sensitive defence…

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…