ELECTIONS

Aravind Limbavali is the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Mahadevapura constituency. Summary 2nd time MLA in Mahadevapura, reserved constituency for SC/ST General Secy of BJP Karnataka Engineer by training, started as RSS/ABVP member Minister of Higher Education and later Health and Family Welfare in 2008-13 BJP government. Active in the 2013-18 assembly with many questions on lakes, roads and other urban development topics Bulk of his LAD funds have been spent on Bus Shelters - more than 5 crores. Constituency continues to struggle with issues of water, polluted lakes and traffic nightmares   Profile of MLA Arvind Limbavali is…

Among other useful features, The National Voters’ Services Portal (NVSP) allows us to search for voter data by entering the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number or voter name. Unfortunately, the data we get with this query refers to an older version of the electoral rolls, though the result claims to have been updated on the date of query – misleading us further. This is an old (and ignored?) problem.  Exactly two years ago, I reported to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), his Director, IT, and the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (CEO-KA), about this issue. Since then I have written to them…

Final electoral rolls are out, in the poll-bound Karnataka. There have been serious issues in the electoral rolls in the past, and this time is no exception. The quality issues in the electoral rolls of Bengaluru published at ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in website on February 28, 2018 are of the nature that could lead to denial of voting rights to many citizens. Following is a glimpse of voters’ woes in Karnataka ahead of the assembly elections. The Electoral Rolls Management System (ERMS) is getting worse in some areas though there are improvements in some other areas. Data on voters of Karnataka is officially…

As is with the case with any poll-bound state, political parties in Karnataka are ramping up their election propaganda. With the elections just a little more than a month away, the challenge for  candidates is to stand out from the crowd and be recognisable. It is of little surprise that buntings and hoardings have sprung up dime a dozen around the city with names and pictures of political leaders. However, most of these are illegal and are propped up on road dividers, footpaths and trees, which pose a problem for road users besides being eyesores. Since flex banners are also…

According to the web site of the Greater Chennai Corporation, it is “headed by Mayor, who presides over 200 councillors, each of whom represents one of the 200 wards of the city.” The point is, where are they? The term of the last Council and, concurrently, that of the Mayor, expired in October 2016. Ever since, we have been administered by the Commissioner, in his capacity as a Special Officer. It is, therefore, more than a year since we have had elected representatives to handle civic issues. Not many in the city appear to be bothered, but in the long…

Dear Parties contesting in the Karnataka State Elections, Have you considered including Fire Safety in your election manifesto for the forthcoming election? If not, we urge you to do so. And here is why. There have been a spate of fire accidents in our country these past couple of months - be it at a liquor shop in Bengaluru or a hotel in Mumbai, or some other building in another city, town or village. In fact, as per NCRB 2015 data pertaining to Karnataka:  1244 died in fire accidents in 1 year  Of these, 781 were women and…

It was the year 1957 that Bangalore elected three women to the erstwhile Mysore Legislative Assembly. It remains the most number of women that the city has elected. Ours is a city that prides itself to be bustling cosmopolitan, representing modern times and yet how do we explain why there are not too many women who represented this city’s people politically? It is truly awesome and terrifying being a woman in these times. The last few months have been rather difficult for the collective patriarchy that has defined our world order so far. This month, the United Kingdom celebrates hundred…

A few months ago, Bengaluru saw people from various resident welfare associations and list out their wants for Bengaluru. This was at Beku BeDa Santhe, organised by Citizens for Bengaluru. The list that came out of it, a citizens' manifesto for Bengaluru, was submitted to various political parties. Here goes the citizens manifesto. Traffic Principles: Prioritize moving people over vehicles Incentivize public transport over private transport Invest heavily in mass public transport Demands: Setup UMTA Double the bus fleet, halve bus fares Add 10 new suburban train routes every year Increase frequency of metro; add coaches Integrate public transport with…

The tenure of the present Karnataka Assembly ends on May 28, 2018. Elections for the 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly are likely to be held in May, 2018. The final dates are yet to be determined. Every day we see examples of poor governance around us – despite paying our bills, taxes and being the fairly conscientious citizens we think we are. Many a time, we hear ‘the government should do this or that’, the traffic is terrible, the pollution is killing us, the garbage situation is untenable and so on and so forth. All of which is true. It’s also true…

A day ahead of the crucial byelections, R K Nagar was buzzing with activity as the city police and personnel of the special task force oversaw security and other preparations. Tension has been palpable in the constituency amidst allegations of malpractice, in particular the distribution of money by political parties to win the assembly seat that fell vacant upon the demise of the former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. VoiceOfPeople, a group of concerned residents from all quarters of society, gathered at the Tondiarpet zonal office on Wednesday, a day after the political parties wound up their campaigning, as per the…