GENRE: Voices

Does the average voter evaluate each of their candidates carefully?  Like we do every election, Citizen Matters has been publishing voter guides with profiles of key candidates for constituencies in Chennai, Bengaluru and other cities. We summarise candidates’ background, promises, and their interviews. We highlight the parliamentary performance of incumbent MPs – their membership in committees, questions they have raised, debates they participated in etc. We also compile news media reports to track their recent work.  There are various criteria that voters base their decision on. While there are those undecided or open-minded who have found the information in our…

Any pet parent will tell you that dogs need a safe space where they can be free and get their requisite daily exercise. Leashed walks can fulfil only a part of their exercise requirement. Especially dogs belonging to larger breeds are more energetic and need to run free to expend their energy and to grow and develop well. This is especially difficult in a city like Mumbai where traffic concerns and the territorial nature of street dogs makes it impossible for pet parents to let their dogs off the leash even for a moment. My German Shepherd herself has developed…

With a long career of 25 years in politics, P C Mohan, the incumbent BJP MP from Bangalore Central constituency, is contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the fourth time. At an interaction with residents from Bellandur on Sunday, April 21st, the MP candidate answered questions on infrastructure projects for the locality, solutions for traffic management and decongestion of roads, lack of civic planning in Mahadevapura, among other issues. Here are some excerpts from the interaction: Metro is a long-term project that could take 6 years. From a policy perspective, what can we do to use existing modes…

Even as summer heat sets new records in Mumbai, the city is gearing for elections on May 20 amidst chaotic political developments. As leaders jump the political parties, citizens are focussing on the official manifestos released by major political parties. An election manifesto is a statement put out by a political party or a candidate defining their goals. It reflects the social issues that they promise to tackle should they be elected. As such this document becomes a compass for voters who can decide in which direction they would like to see the country go.  Urban civic groups, having the…

At Citizen Matters, our election coverage is focused almost entirely on data, long form journalism and in-depth conversations with candidates, not about party politics but their vision and policies for the constituency. Yet the challenge of getting 30 minutes with a Union Minister a few days before the campaign ended was always going to be difficult. We finally managed to get her to give us five minutes in a moving car and here is what she shared with us.  Shobha Karandlaje, the JD(S)-BJP coalition candidate from Bangalore North is one of the better known women candidates in the fray for…

An election campaign in this gruelling summer has been an exhausting exercise even for the most seasoned politicians. Rajeev Gowda, the Congress Party candidate for Bangalore North constituency, admitted as much. But he says, it also highlights the urgency for the measures to combat climate change and his plans for the constituency, should he be elected.  After more than two decades in politics, the former Rajya Sabha MP is all set to fight it out for a Lok Sabha berth for the first time.           We caught up with the former professor of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) at…

Cities in India are set to host half of the population by 2030, driving the country's ‘growth’ and ‘development’. Urbanisation is now being seen as a key focus area of public policy and ‘solution’ to ‘development needs’ of our country. However, this rapid urbanisation has brought numerous challenges, particularly for the urban poor, working class, and informal workers who struggle to access housing, livelihoods, and basic rights like water, healthcare, and education. Despite contributing significantly to cities, their rights have often been ignored and violated until now. Over the past year, community groups, workers’ collectives, and people's movements with decades-long…

Mansoor Ali Khan, from Indian National Congress (INC), is all set to contest for Bangalore Central Parliamentary Constituency this Lok Sabha Elections. In an interview with Citizen Matters, Mansoor spoke about his plans for his constituency if he gets elected as MP and the key issues he would like to address. Mansoor Ali Khan: Political family, educational entrepreneur Mansoor Ali Khan is the son of K. Rahman Khan, who is a veteran politician belonging to the Indian National Congress (INC) and a former Union Minister of Minority Affairs and Ex-Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Mansoor was one of the two…

Arvind Sawant, who has served two terms as the MP from Mumbai South, is raring to go as he prepares to fight for a third term. His opponents are a divided house and the official candidate is yet to be announced here. Leaders such as Rahul Narwekar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Yeshwant Jadhav are eyeing this seat. So is Milind Deora, who has already been nominated to the Rajya Sabha now and had previously lost to Sawant in the two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019.  Mumbai South is comprised of the assembly constituencies of Colaba, Mumbadevi, Byculla, Malabar Hill,…

The country is going to the polls in one of the most keenly watched elections of all time, and a collective of 70 environment and civil society organisations have appealed to voters to assess the threat to the environment and ecology when they cast their votes in the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. Here is what the organisations have said in a joint statement: As Indians prepare to vote in the Lok Sabha elections this year, it is very important to think of the future of our democracy, especially the youth and their right to clean air and water security in…