Series: Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018

The first term MLA from Hebbal, Jagadish Kumar, replaced his political mentor Katta Subramanya Naidu for the Hebbal constituency, after Naidu’s legal issues saw him imprisoned. Jagadish Kumar died in November of 2015, following a heart attack when he was 58. He was rushed to a private hospital after he complained of uneasiness in his chest during the Assembly session, but collapsed while medical tests were being done. Jagadish who was an active member of the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was a qualified engineer and began his political career in 1993. He was the Bangalore City General Secretary in the…

The six-term MLA, Ramalinga Reddy was first elected from Jayanagar for four times. Then in 2008 when the cosntituency boundaries changed due to delimitation, he shifted to BTM layout which he currently represents for the second time. Reddy was the Home Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, a berth he was given after the resignation of G Parameshwar. Before that he handled the Ministry of Transport. He started his political career as a municipal corporator in 1983. His first stint as a minister started in the Veerappa Moily Cabinet as Minister for Finance and Heavy and Medium Industries. He has held…

Politics did not happen to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Karnataka Convener Prithvi Reddy intentionally. He was a part of Corruption Saku campaign in 2010 (which later merged with India Against Corruption) with no aspirations other than to reduce corruption. He co-founded Smart Vote, a movement to encourage voter registration and participation in issue-based politics. He runs his father’s school of 450 students in Addagal village, Kolar District. Reddy then co-founded Swabal, an initiative to provide practical skills to high school dropouts with guaranteed employment.   He became AAP’s national executive member in 2013. Now he is contesting from Sarvagna Nagar,…

Two weeks ago, when B.PAC - Bangalore Political Action Committee, rated K J George and Haris the best performing MLAs, Bangaloreans were taken aback. While this ‘best’ was a relative term, it is obvious most lay citizens aren’t happy with any elected representative, given the state of the city. But how can we really evaluate an MLA’s performance on the ground and in the assembly? The MLA rating project was part of BPAC’s multi-pronged strategy to increase voter participation, from supporting voter enrollment to MLA rating, candidate awareness etc. The survey looked at the following parameters and weightage: 20 -…

Sathish Reddy, a two-term MLA from Bommanahalli, has a number of infamous spots in his constituency. The notoriously congested Silk Board junction, Karnataka Composting Development Corporation (KCDC), Agara lake and Puttenhalli lakes are a few of them. His constituency also makes news every time there are heavy showers, inundating the residences with water some times as high as four feet. During one such episode, the MLA got into a verbal altercation with a senior forest official Deepika Bajpai and had threatened to slap her which made headlines. Reddy has an agricultural background and is known to have real estate dealings.…

S Raghu started his political career as a municipal corporator from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1996. He has won twice from his current constituency of C V Raman Nagar which is reserved under SC/ST category. Previously he represented the Shanthinagar constituency. Some of Bengaluru’s most discussed land marks and civic problems fall under the C V Raman constituency. Public transport/connectivity to the high density Bagmane Tech Park; the cleaning up of the 45 acre Kaggadaspura Lake; portions of Indiranagar which are still reeling under rampant commercialisation are among a few noted ones. A lot of highly sensitive defence…

Renuka Vishwanathan belongs to a rare breed of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from Karnataka. It goes without saying that she has many broken barriers to her credit. She was a member of the Planning Commission of India, and the first woman Deputy Commissioner in Karnataka posted in Uttara Kannada District, and subsequently posted in Dharward District for a second term. She was also the first woman to become the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Finance Corporation, and the first woman Transport Commissioner of Karnataka. Before retiring she held the coveted post of Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat of…

R Ashok, one of BJP’s most recognisable Vokkaliga faces, is a five-time MLA. He currently represents Padmanabhnagar constituency in South Bengaluru, but was first elected from the Uttarahalli constituency in 1997. Ashok has held multiple ministerial berths in the Bharatiya Janata Party government between 2008 and 2013, including Home and Transport. He was one of the Deputy Chief Ministers of the State when the BJP government was in power. He claims credit for modernising the Transport department with enhanced of technology during his tenure as its minister. In the recent times he has been in the news for Bagair Hukum…

Nalapad Ahmed Haris, the two-term MLA from Shantinagar has most of Bengaluru’s Central Business District fall under him. He started his political career as a member of Youth Congress. He is a first generation MLA, whose father N A Mohammed also had tried his luck in politics. He contested elections from Indian National Congress (INC) in Kasaragod constituency in Kerala during 2004 parliamentary elections, but lost to CPM candidate P Karunakaran. However, Nalapad Senior had laid the foundation for the successful Nalapad Group of Companies which also brought the family close politicians and political parties. He originally hailed from Kerala…

A doctor by qualification, C N Ashwath Narayan has been a long-time Malleshwaram resident. He contested the assembly polls from Malleshwaram thrice, and has won twice, his entry as a winner being in 2008. He, directly or indirectly, was a part of many businesses and charitable trusts, including Padmashree Medicare Private Limited, TKN Global Education Services, Padmashree Charitable Trust, Padmashree Diagnostics and Malleshwaram Sports Foundation, but not anymore. He has been in the news in recent times for the multiple manifesto outreach programs he has been organising. His administrative initiatives have been largely in the medical sector with Health and…