Governance

Paresh Rawal is a first time MP from the Ahmedabad East Constituency. An acclaimed actor who has essayed many iconic roles in both mainstream and parallel Hindi cinema, the 63-year old Rawal is known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has said in more than one interview that it was the inspiration from the PM that led him to join politics. In 2014, he was reportedly considered for two Gujarat seats -- Ahmedabad East and Vadodara -- where Modi himself was also being named as a possible contender. Finally, Modi stood for Vadodara, while Rawal got Ahmedabad…

The Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (CEO-KA), had published on his website the latest electoral rolls – the version that was effective for this Lok Sabha election. Though the mother roll for this election was published last October, an addition/deletion drive was undertaken afterwards. The rolls with these modifications were published twice - once on 16th January, and the final rolls on 26th March. But the final rolls appeared on the CEO-KA website on 10th April only, leaving little time to respond for those who went missing from the rolls. Additions CEO-KA had advertised widely inviting the citizens to register as…

As a socialist politician of Socialist Secular Sovereign Democratic Republic of India, it hurts me deeply that I was excluded from the democratic process of exercising my fundamental constitutional right to vote in spite of repeated representations to election officials in New Delhi and Hyderabad. What happened Around mid 2018, reports were pouring in from various parts of Telangana state that voters did not find their names in electoral rolls. On 24th September 2018 I was shocked to find that my voter ID too was not present in the electoral rolls. I wrote same day to Election Commission of India…

The Sriperumbudur parliamentary constituency comprises six assembly constituencies: Maduravoyal, Sriperumbudur, Alandur, Pallavaram, Ambattur, Tambaram. A total of 19 candidates are contesting from various political parties and as independents from Sriperumbudur. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected 27 applications for various reasons. According to the ECI website, the constituency has a total of 22,53,041 voters: 11,22,731 male; 11,29,970 female and 340 of the third gender. [flexiblemap src="http://data.opencity.in/Data/Tamil-Nadu-Parliament-Constituency-Sriperambudur-Map-V-1.kml" width="100%" height="400px" ] Note – Map for representation purpose | Source – http://datameet.org 2014 Lok Sabha Elections Incumbent MP: K N Ramachandran Name of candidate Party Votes secured Vote share (over total…

Dakshina Kannada parliamentary constituency comprises eight assembly constituencies - Belthangady, Moodabidri, Mangalore City North (previously Surathkal), Mangalore City South (previously Mangalore), Mangalore (previously Ullal), Bantval, Puttur and Sulia. This constituency has historically been a BJP stronghold. According to the website of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, as of 16th January, the constituency had 16,97,417 voters – 8,33,719 male, 8,63,599 female and 99 others. [flexiblemap src="http://data.opencity.in/Data/Karnataka-Parliament-Constituency-Dakshina-Kannada-Map-V-1.kml" width="100%" height="400px" ] Note – Map for representation purpose | Source – http://datameet.org The constituency has been a sensitive one, vulnerable to violence and rowdyism, and parts of it -- especially Mangalore city commissionerate…

Indian Mythology is peppered with great stories. And my favourite right now, with the elections around the corner, is the legend of Mohini - Bhasmasura. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the it, let me give you the abridged version - Lord Shiva who is pleased with the penance of Bhasmasura, the great demon, gives him a boon that he can burn anything and anybody by just placing his hand upon its head. Upon receiving the ‘gift’, Bhasmasura tries to place his hand on Lord Shiva’s head to burn him. To me, nothing else succinctly sums up my…

Mysore, parliamentary constituency number 21, comprises eight assembly constituencies: Madikeri (208), Virajpet (209), Piriyapatna (210), Hunsur (212), Chamundeshwari (215), Krishnaraja (216), Chamaraja (217), and Narasimharaja (218). Madikeri and Virajpet are the most recent entrants in this parliamentary constituency which, till the 2007 delimitation process, consisted of only the other six assembly constituencies. From 1957 onwards, and for a long time, Mysore sent a member of the INC to represent its people in the Parliament. Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, a scion of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore, was one of them. BJP made inroads into this seat in 1998 when CH…

Nalin Kumar Kateel is a second-time Lok Sabha MP who represents Dakshina Kannada parliamentary constituency. He is contesting again from the constituency on a BJP ticket this time. Dakshina Kannada constituency comprises Belthangady, Moodabidri, Mangalore City North (previously Surathkal), Mangalore South (previously Mangalore), Mangalore (previously Ullal), Bantwal, Puttur and Sulia assembly constituencies. Kateel was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2009, upon defeating Congress representative Janardhan Poojary by 40,420 votes. Prior to this, he was the District General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kateel again contested in the general election in 2014, and was re-elected…

This election season, Factly.in has put together a series of videos that seeks to deconstruct various aspects of the massive democratic exercise to make every citizen aware of its history, processes, rules and other relevant information. The second episode breaks down the most important election procedures of voter registration and voting. This is no rocket science and yet it may seem confusing. https://youtu.be/ZPAJfABAksI [This video series is produced by Factly as a part of the YouTube GNI Innovation Funding and has been republished here with permission.]

Finally, the much awaited day is here, when Chennai is all set to choose its representatives in the 17th Lok Sabha. Parliamentary elections this time are distinctive in the fact the median age of the electorate is 27.9 years. For the first time in the history of India, forty-five million young people have become eligible to vote as they turn 18 and have been added to India’s electoral rolls since 2014 (according to ECI data of 2018). Needless to say, therefore, that how India’s young population votes will be one of the major deciding factors in the ongoing elections. Young…