Governance

Meenakshi Lekhi from BJP was Member of Parliament from New Delhi constituency in the 16th Lok Sabha. She is the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Supreme Court lawyer. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, she won the much coveted New Delhi seat with over 4.5 lakh votes as a BJP candidate. In July 2016, she was appointed chairperson of the Committee on Privileges of the Lok Sabha in Parliament. She is a regular contributor to political journals and newspapers, penning 'Forthwrite', a fortnightly column in The Week magazine. She has also distinguished herself as an active…

ADR has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 967 out of 979 candidates, who are contesting in the sixth phase of the ongoing general elections, scheduled for May 12th. Topping the list of crorepatis is Jyotiraditya M. Scindia fighting from Guna constituency of Madhya Pradesh with a Congress ticket. He possesses assets worth Rs 374 crore. Second on the list is Gautam Gambhir with assets over Rs 147 crore. The former national-level cricketer also has the highest liabilities (among Phase 6 candidates) of over Rs 34 crore and highest annual income of over Rs 12 crore for financial year 2017-18 as…

On May 7th, Aam Aadmi Party’s South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Raghav Chadha unveiled the manifesto for his constituency in the presence of the party’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai. On the occasion, Chadha said, “Its not just promises but a resolution to resolve people’s grievances”. The 32-page manifesto mainly focuses on 12 primary issues like pollution, water, healthcare, women protection, sewage, child protection & education, public grievance redressal, empowerment of vulnerable sections of society, public toilets & sanitation, night shelters, transport and culture. Just a few days earlier, we had caught up with the candidate to know his plans and agenda…

Jaipur (Rural) is a comparatively new parliamentary constituency, brought into existence by the delimitation exercise in 2008. Currently, it has eight legislative assembly segments under it, including Kotpuli, Viratnagar, Shahpura, Phulera, Jhotwera, Amber, Jamwa Ramgarh and Bansur. In 2014, the dominant Modi wave had brought Rajyavardhan Rathore to power, as he defeated INC candidate Lal Chand Kataria, who had won the seat in 2009. This time, the sitting MP is also minister with independent charge of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) and sports, and is poised for a close fight again. [flexiblemap src="http://data.opencity.in/Data/Rajasthan-Parliament-Constituency-Jaipur-Rural-Map-V-1.kml" width="100%" height="400px" ] Note – Map for representation…

Lucknow Lok Sabha (Parliamentary) Constituency comprises five assembly constituencies - Lucknow West, Lucknow North, Lucknow East, Lucknow Central and Lucknow Cantt. Being the capital of India's most populous state,Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is one of the most important political seats in the country. It saw two noted women freedom fighters - Vijayalakshmi Pandit and Sheorajvati Nehru - as its first two MPs in the first ever Lok Sabha; both were incidentally relatives of Jawaharlal Nehru, then PM of India. Lucknow is also the home constituency of ex-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was elected to the LS from here five times…

The largest city of Rajasthan is the capital, 'pink city' Jaipur. Number 7 among the 25 parliamentary constituencies of the state, Jaipur is all set to go to polls on May 6th. Jaipur parliamentary constituency comprises eight assembly constituencies: Hawa Mahal, Vidhyadhar Nagar, Civil Lines, Kishan Pole, Adarsh Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Sanganer and Bagru. Jaipur is seen to be a BJP bastion, with the Congress winning this seat just thrice in the last 16 polls, since 1952. The BJP won the seat eight times. In 2014, the city had 19,57,820 electors, of which 1,047,468 were male and 910,350 were female.…

The fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held on May 6th in 51 constituencies across Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has published its comprehensive analysis of candidates contesting in this phase. In a first, around 12% of the candidates in the fray on May 6th are women. This is the highest percentage of women so far and surpasses the previous four phases of elections. It is five percentage points higher than the 7% representation seen in the first phase. However, in absolute terms, women…

On a day that India saw another round of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, and people were engrossed in coverage of verbal slugfests between leaders, sensational comments by candidates and all the typical frenzy that accompanies the conduct of elections, the national capital quietly conducted the final phase of an election that is no less important for the Delhiite. The annual elections for the post of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the vital three member standing committee (Sthayi Samiti) of three autonomous municipal bodies of Delhi (MCDs) concluded on Monday unanimously. With the ruling BJP enjoying a clear majority…

As Mumbai voted to elect its representatives to the next Lok Sabha on April 29th, it was in a way the realisation of a three-decade long dream for the SP-BSP candidate in Mumbai’s north west constituency. Or almost. Two-time MLA in UP, Subhash Pasi has indeed made a long journey to finally arrive at this day. A UP bhaiya, Pasi, 60, claims to represent the large number of his fellow bhaiyas, and Muslims and Dalits of this constituency. “They comprise about eight lakh of the 16 lakh voters,” said Pasi, Pasi’s family arrived in Mumbai from UP in the early…

Mumbai North-East was formed prior to the 1967 elections. The region is a symbol of the city's dichotomous development. Even though it is reputed for prime real estate and some important infrastructure projects, this is also the region where massive rehabilitation projects are being pursued to compensate those who have given up their land and homes. The constituency consists of Mulund, Vikhroli, Bhandup West, Ghatkopar West, Ghatkopar East and Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar assembly constituencies. In 2014, Mumbai North East had 16,68,357 registered electors. The winner, Kirit Somaiya got 5,25,285 or 60.9 percent of the votes, while the runner-up, Sanjay Dina…