Series: Bangalore City MLAs 2013-2018

Jayanagar MLA BN Vijayakumar died of a cardiac arrest, on May 3, 2018, right in the middle of his campaigning. What did Vijayakumar leave behind? What was he trying to do, and what problems did he have? What was his opinion on his constituency's concerns like waste composting or cycle lanes? We had interviewed Vijayakumar a week earlier, to understand his vision for the constituency. This was a long chat and it highlights his legacy too, perhaps setting the direction for whoever takes his baton, and for those who want to pick up the fights he was fighting and carry them…

Muniratna Naidu, the first-time MLA from the Indian National Congress (INC) represents Rajarajeshwari Nagar Constituency. He began his political career as a Municipal corporator from Yeshwanthpur and was previously a private contractor. He was named in the Lokayukta Report in 2010 for being responsible for the death of Sanjana Singh, an 17-year-old student, who died when the wall of Government Veterinary Hospital collapsed on her. Munirathna was the BBMP contractor who had built the structure. His name also featured in fake bill scam unearthed by Technical Vigilance Cell of BBMP. His affidavit to the Election Commission in 2013 makes no…

S T Somashekar, the first-term MLA, is a BSc graduate who represents the Yeshwanthpur constituency from Congress. He is said to be a close confidant of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and media reports state that it was he ensured that the Congress BBMP councillors in 2015 and Congress MLAs 2016 were not poached by the opposition during the Mayoral Elections and Rajya Sabha Polls respectively. The civic problems of Yeshwanthpur however remain basic to include the lack of underground drains, roads and water scarcity. The constituency largely depends on borewells for its water supply which remains a problem. S T Somashekhar…

S Suresh Kumar, a lawyer by profession, came into electoral politics as a city corporator in the year 1983 from the BJP. He was also its leader in the Council. Suresh Kumar has been closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh and was even jailed during the Emergency. He became an MLA from Rajajinagar in 1994 and has been elected from the constituency from four times since then except in 2004 when he was defeated by Narendra Kumar N L of the Congress. He was the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs in the first BJP led Government of…

Akhanda Srinivas Murthy is a first-time MLA from Pulakeshinagar constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC). He was one of the three city MLAs from JD(S). The PUC pass MLA was one of the first political leaders to respond when tensions escalated between the Army and the residents of JC Nagar over the access road to a 117-year-old mosque near Modi Gardens last year along with his party colleague from the Chamarajpet, Zameer Ahmed. He was suspended from the party for cross voting in the Rajya Sabha elections in 2016. He tendered his resignation from JD(S) party to the…

Byrathi Basavaraj is a first-term MLA from K R Puram. He has managed to stay in news for alleged land mafia and for his supporters thrashing a mother and her son. Like most of the areas that were added when the Greater Bangalore area was formed, K R Puram area reels with very basic problems - lack of underground drains, water scarcity, garbage and traffic congestion which fall under the jurisdiction of the municipal councillors - a majority of who are from the Congress party. For a man who represents a constituency that is famous for its IT parks, Basavaraj…

B N Vijay Kumar, who joined the BJP in 1990 is a three-term MLA from Jayanagar constituency. An engineer by qualification, he was an active member of RSS. Jayanagar, which was one of the first planned layouts in the city is considered an elite residential area with demography that has a mix of upper middle class and upper caste people. Vijaya Kumar, who is a brahmin, has had an easy run winning this constituency so far. As a planned layout the issues plaguing the Jayanagar constituency are not as basic as some of the newly formed areas of the city.…

Ravi Subrahmanya is a two-term MLA from Basavanagudi. He was associated with the RSS before being elected to the Assembly in 2008. His constituency has Basavanagudi, one of the oldest localities in the city and is home to the world famous Gavi Gandhareshwara Temple and Dodda Basavana Gudi - the Bull Temple. Unlike other BJP MLAs from the city, the legislator has maintained a relatively low profile. He made news when he invested Rs1.5 crore of the MLA LAD funds in a government school in his constituency. He has also been pushing the idea of Basavangudi Heritage Corridor for many…

Kelachandra Joseph George, hailing from Gonikoppa in Coorg district, is the third child of an agriculturist couple. He rose through the ranks as a member of Youth Congress and was known to be a protege of former Chief Minister Gundu Rao. He was first elected to the Karnataka Assembly in 1985 from erstwhile Bharatinagar constituency (which is now Sarvagna Nagar) and held the seat till 1994. He lost the Bharatinagar seat in 1994 when he became part of the rebel faction against the Karnataka Congress led by Bangarappa. He came back to electoral politics in 2008 to win the newly…

Incumbent MLA and INC candidate for Pulakeshinagar constituency, Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, won by a margin of nearly 50% last time. Despite shifting loyalties and getting inducted into the party only in March, Murthy is confident of repeating the same performance. He was in the eye of the storm for cross-voting with seven other former JD(S) leaders in favor of INC leader KC Ramamurthy. Amidst the hustle and bustle of campaigning, he sat down with Citizen Matters for a chat at his home. DJ Halli area was in news for deaths of children due to malnutrition. What steps have been taken…