Governance

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. In the first episode,  find answers to what happened in independent India’s first ever election, how elections have progressed, what the Election Commission of India has been getting right, where we are now and where we are headed. https://youtu.be/fwRl66BOoKs [This video series is produced by Factly as a part of the YouTube GNI Innovation Funding and has been republished here with permission. The summary…

Alagaapuram R Mohanraj, contesting from Chennai North Parliamentary constituency on a DMDK ticket, is optimistic: he feels all is well in the constituency. With barely six days left for the constituency to vote in the Lok Sabha elections, Mohanraj is on the streets for more than 13 hours a day, and the success of schemes implemented by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are a frequent refrain in his campaign speeches. The DMDK is part of the mega alliance with parties such as AIADMK, BJP and PMK. In a freewheeling interview, Mohanraj, a former Salem MLA,…

“We want policies and schemes that are people centric, not nominal ones that our elected representatives decide,” say volunteers of Chittoor People’s Action Committee (CPAC). CPAC is a pro-active citizen movement and the voice of the people in Chittoor, a city crying out for basic amenities and infrastructure.   CPAC has interacted with more than 5000 citizens from Chittoor, Gangadhara Nellore and Puthalapattu constituencies, to deliver a data-centric, in-depth citizens' manifesto.  The manifesto is the end product of various surveys and workshops such as Nenu Bharath Aithe (inspired from a political drama movie starring Mahesh Babu). The volunteers of CPAC…

Bangalore Central is a rather new Lok Sabha constituency carved out in 2008, as part of 'delimitation'. It was created out of the former Bangalore North and Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituencies. Bangalore Central comprises eight assembly constituencies - Rajajinagar, Chamrajpet, Gandhinagar, Shivajinagar, Shantinagar, Sarvagnanagar, CV Raman Nagar and Mahadevpaura. In the 2018 assembly election, Congress had won five of these constituencies - Sarvagnanagar, Shivajinagar, Shanthinagar, Gandhinagar and Chamarajpet. BJP had won the other three - CV Raman Nagar, Rajajinagar and Mahadevapura. This was a step up for the Congress, which had won only four seats in the 2013 assembly…

Vatal Nagaraj, known for his hardline pro-Kannada stand, is contesting from Bangalore South constituency this election. Nagaraj is contesting in the ticket of his party, the Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha. Hailing from Vatala in Mysore district, Nagaraj had started his political career in Bengaluru as a corporator in 1964. He had been elected thrice as MLA from the Chamarajanagar assembly constituency, in 1989, 1994 and 2004. He had contested in the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Bangalore South constituency itself, but had lost to sitting MP Ananth Kumar. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Nagaraj had supported Congress candidates. Nagaraj…

Krishna Byre Gowda, Karnakata's Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), is the Congress candidate from Bangalore North parliamentary constituency. Gowda, a second-generation politician, was first elected to the state Assembly in 2003, and was one of its youngest members at the age of 30. He was elected from Vemagal, which had fallen vacant after the death of his father Byre Gowda, a five-time MLA from the constituency. Gowda joined the Congress in 2004, and won the constituency again. In 2007, he was elected the President of the Karnataka Youth Congress Committee. In 2008, he contested and won from…

April 16 Tight security across the city ahead of Mangaluru polls Security across Mangaluru city has been beefed up ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The police have identified 220 vulnerable polling booths in 93 areas. 501 intimidators were nabbed from these pockets. Central Armed Forces will provide security at 156 among the 220 booths identified as vulnerable and critical; micro observers and video observers have been deployed at the others. Meet this 105-year-old poll enthusiast from Chennai A 105-year-old voter from Anna Nagar with firm belief in democracy wants to vote. C Balasubramanian has strong political views and urges…

Secunderabad parliamentary constituency is comprised of seven assembly constituencies — Musheerabad, Amberpet, Khairatabad, Jubilee Hills, Sanathnagar, Nampally and Secunderabad.The constituency has seen both Congress and BJP MPs in the recent past, with Congress winning the seat in 2009 and BJP in 2014. With AIMIM backing the TRS, the constituency is set to see a tight three way contest this elections. A total of 28 candidates are contesting from Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, according to the Election Commission of India website. ECI has rejected  applications to the constituency. According to the latest rolls from the Chief Electoral Officer Telangana, the constituency has…

How should one go about voting in an election? This seems quite a bewildering challenge for some voters unless they have already made up their mind on whom or which party to vote. The manifestos of both the major parties are out. In case the promises they are making and their track record of delivering on previous manifestos hasn’t helped you decide, read on. For those still undecided, this article may give you some guidance on making an informed choice. Let us first begin by understanding the role of a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP),the nature of our democracy…

Bangalore North (parliamentary constituency number 24) comprises eight assembly constituencies - KR Pura, Byatarayanapura, Yeshwanthapura, Dasarahalli, Mahalakshmi Layout, Malleshwaram, Hebbal and Pulakeshinagar. Till 2004, this constituency was the stronghold of the Congress. C K Jaffer Sharief of INC had been elected from here to the Lok Sabha seven times (1977-1996 and 1998-2004), and Kengal Hanumanthaiya thrice before him (1962-1977). But since 2004, in the past three elections, BJP has won from here. Bangalore North was one of the nine constituencies in Mysore state in 1951, when the first general elections were held in India. N Keshava Iyengar from the INC…