INTERVIEWS

Prof B K Chandrashekhar, MLC and former IT minister, is Congress's candidate for Basavangudi this election. Chandrashekhar, 76, is a retired IIMB professor, and has worked in other universities in India and abroad. He has a post graduation in law from Leeds University, and a doctorate from Oxford University. He is currently one of KPCC's Vice-Presidents. He is also a former Chairman of the Legislative Council.Though the KPCC VP, Chandrashekhar talks less on the party's stand, and more on his personal views. He also positions himself rather as an exception within the party - as part of a minority that…

Abdul Azeem, 60 is a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, while also being a former MLC, from Hebbal. Now standing on a JD(S) ticket, Azeem has served under a gamut of leaders from all leanings. Retiring in 2004, when he still had nine years of service to go, Azeem stood for the Assembly polls that same year from Binnypet and lost. Azeem's advantage is that he has lived and worked in the area, is better known and has a history of service.However, his plans to resolve Hebbal's key issues are sketchy, with talks of relegating growth to outside of Bangalore limits,…

He drove into Chaithanya Samarpan Layout at Kadugodi, around 5 kms north of Whitefield, in an entourage of three vehicles. All of the vehicles were the bulky SUV-types. The owners association had organised a meeting on Sunday (April 28) morning. Pic: acsrinivasa.com. A C Srinivasa is the Congress' candidate for the Mahadevpura constituency in north-eastern Bengaluru. He is the local man who rose from the grassroots to district panchayat president. His immovable properties are worth Rs.83 crores. He is clearly a rich landowner. He was Zilla panchayat president till 2011 and is currently Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee secretary. He was…

Its 8:30 am and Doctor MRV Prasad is on his rounds - but this time it's a different kind of rounds. Dr Prasad is contesting the MLA elections from the Padmanabhanagar constituency on a JD (S) ticket. He is constantly going door-to-door asking people to vote for him. The campaign is a low-key affair, with only a handful of supporters walking with Prasad. Dr Prasad has been a physician in Thyagarajanagar for the last 40 years. A man on scooter, on spotting Dr Prasad, stops and tells him that he went by his nursing home but there was no one…

  N A Haris, Congress MLA from Shanthinagar, is contesting once more from his constituency. Like all other contestants, Haris, 46, too is busy trying to woo the voters by holding padyatras to various areas in his constituency. Haris was in news recently for his role in the eviction of about 1000 families from Ejipura EWS (Economically Weaker Section) quarters. Citizen Matters caught up with him during two of his evening padayatras - to Vivek Nagar and Vinayaknagar. In this exclusive interview, he talks about his plans for Shanthinagar, his views on Ejipura evictions and more. Pic: facebook.com/mlaharis Excerpts from…

The Lok Satta party headed by Jayaprakash Narayan is flexing its muscles in Bangalore as the state gets ready for elections in May. The party has named 15 candidates for MLA elections in the state, including a second list that was released on March 27th. Nine are contesting in Bangalore city itself, and the rest from other parts of Karnataka. Lok Satta has a reformist positioning in the Indian political sphere. It supports clean governance, setting up of a strong Lokpal, liberalising agriculture, closing of populist subsidies, FDI in retail, and so forth. Jayaprakash Narayan. Pic: Loksattaparty.org Jayaprakash Narayan, 57,…

She welcomes me into her home in Ulsoor wearing a beautiful hand woven Bailou saree. It is simple and elegant, much like Nagamani herself, exuding a quiet beauty and grace you hope to have when you reach her age. We get to know about ‘Mani aunty' from Mala and Sonia Dhawan, the enterprising sisters who run A Hundred Hands, a nonprofit trust that aims to introduce and promote handmade crafts, art and food. Located in Bangalore, they hold an exhibition of creative art, crafts and concoctions every year. The Dhawans tell me how Mani auntie's herbal oil is a product…

On top of winning a nationally televised leadership initiative in 2008, this Bangalorean joined the BJP in 2009 just before the Parliamentary elections. His induction was attended by Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar. He is well known as a governance reforms activist and a man who has consistently called for greater engagement of educated citizens in politics. However, today, he has struck out on his own, disappointed with India's political parties. In fact, with his new initiative Nav Bharat he appears to be hitting out against the party system itself.Meet Bangalorean Rajendra Kumar Misra, 47, better known as 'RK'. Misra…

In recent times, there has been frequent leadership change in BMTC. It's new Managing Director Anjum Parwez took charge only about two and half months back. Parwez, 43, is an IAS officer of ‘94 batch. Parwez joined as BMTC MD in September end. Pic: Navya P K Before BMTC, he had been posted in various departments like Urban Development, Land Revenue and Rural Development. In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, Parwez talks about BMTC's new plans, and also explains the rationale for starting new services, limiting Volvos to certain routes etc. Here are excerpts from the interview: What are…

Rajvir Pratap Sharma, head of BMTF (Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force), has been in the news recently for taking on the state government. While Sharma acted in accordance to BMTF's powers, against BBMP officers who permitted unauthorised constructions, the state government had tried to transfer him. Government first tried to bring BMTF under BBMP, then there were the BBMP officers who went on strike asking for Sharma's removal. Finally, Sharma was accused of constructing an illegal building, and government ordered his transfer based on this, in August. Sharma challenged the order in CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal), and won. CAT rapped the…