ELECTIONS

Chennai has had an inordinately long wait for the local body elections this year. Even while the dates are yet to be announced, citizens have woken up to the need of engaging themselves in the process in a proactive manner, ensuring that the people select the right candidates, elect them and hold them accountable so as to have a truly representative and participatory democracy. A group of citizens residing in Zone 13 of the Corporation, covering Wards 170 to 182, have come together under a single umbrella to create an urban ward manifesto, and create interface systems between the ward…

Many may have missed this small snippet of news, but the Special Officer, Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan has already passed the Greater Chennai Corporation budget, reportedly on March 14. Details of the budget are however being withheld in the name of election code of conduct, in view of the imminent by-elections in RK Nagar. While one can understand that the announcement of welfare measures related to RK Nagar could violate the election code of conduct, it is difficult to see why the entire budget details have to be withheld. And one cannot hold back the feeling that an elected council…

Avinash, a resident of Perungalathur, is waiting eagerly to see a change in the local government. “The councillor is unresponsive whenever we try to raise our voices. Though we were not much affected by the floods last year, we ensured the safety of our residents without claiming any help from the civic body and gathered a few boats to rescue people from the neighbouring area, Mudichur. I welcome the change of council with the hope that it happens soon, before the onset of monsoon flooding,” he says. How soon that will happen, however, is anybody’s guess. Delay in municipal elections…

A few months ago, on my other blog, I wrote a post about Donald Trump, making less-than-gentle fun of the man. At the time, he didn't seem like much of a threat. I was fairly confident that Donald Trump had about as much chance of becoming president as a lemur had of learning to fly an aeroplane. It looks, however, as though it may be time to invent seatbelts for lemurs, though, because The Donald is looking like a serious presidential candidate. After several years of threats, Donald Trump has finally decided to run for presidential election. I don't know…

In the May 2016 elections, while Tamil Nadu recorded a polling percent of 73.85%, Chennai recorded only 60.5%. The pattern was similar in other metro cities. It was around 54% in Mumbai (2014) and Bangalore (2015), roughly 12-13% lower than the state average. The media, analyst and activists put the blame on urban citizens. But should we really judge by these figures? And even where turnout is in fact low, what are the real reasons behind the phenomenon? The problem of duplicate entries Vote Smart, a Bangalore based NGO run by PG Bhat, analyzed the electoral rolls using software. They…

Newly elected Mayor G Padmavathi is congratulated by fellow-corporators after she was elected as the Mayor. Pic: Akshatha M The BBMP council elected its 50th Mayor and Deputy Mayor amidst high-drama on September 28, 2016. (Wednesday). G Padmavathi (56), Congress corporator from Prakash Nagar ward was elected as the Mayor of Bengaluru and JD(S) corporator M Anand (53) from Radhakrishna Temple ward was unanimously elected as the Deputy Mayor. With it, the Congress and JD(S) coalition continues to rule the BBMP for one more year. In the backdrop of coalition of the two parties that continued in this election, it…

Initially, this piece had nothing to do with Donald Trump. It had nothing to with American politics whatsoever. I set out to write about my experience visiting an office and a local university in Bengaluru. I thought, maybe I will discuss outsourcing or the importance of community journalism. But once I started writing, what I needed to say became clear. I needed to write about Donald Trump. Last week I visited an American company whose Indian staff generates lecture and homework content for American universities. I talked with a group of employees. They asked how I was adjusting to life…

This election season, Citizen Matters Chennai conducted a survey to analyse the state of the affairs in various neighborhoods of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC),  which has thrown light on some interesting facts about the residents’ perception of local governance. The survey conducted by AskByPoll for Citizen Matters, was to understand the view of Chennaiites on public policy, local body representatives, quality of local governance, performance of MLAs, and important civic issues. Over 100 respondents from different parts of Chennai took part in the survey, out of which 15 percent were from the  extended areas  of the GCC. Around 68 percent…

Even as the AIADMK government assumed office with a historic second consecutive victory in the Assembly Elections, DMK swept Chennai, by winning 10 out of 16 seats. Another factor was anti-incumbency - except for Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, Kolathur, Royapuram, and Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, none of the other constituencies in Chennai district saw the reelection of sitting MLAs. Was this expected? Yes, it was, for at least some poll analysts. Many constituencies in Chennai were not so happy with their MLAs’ performance during the last tenure. This was projected in a survey done in February by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO…