ELECTIONS

Bangalore Central candidates at the BPAC debate. Pic: Shree D N Here are the Bangalore Central MP candidates' responses to common questions about the Lok Sabha General Elections 2014. This has been compiled by Bellandur ward resident, Nagesh. Candidates from all major political parties were asked some direct questions at the BPAC meet. A citizens' team from Bellandur emailed them a questionnaire. This document lists the verbatim responses of the candidates for both series of questions. Before you go through these responses, a few cautionary notes: The statements are reproduced “as is” basis. A fact-check may reveal that some of the…

Data is often underestimated or ignored in public affairs, especially in the local governance space. Claims can go wrong, but data cannot lie. Data is what gives you the real picture of any given situation. With more and more data being put in public domain in India, there are so many things one can do with it, to get insights and plan the related issues better. Thankfully there are many data enthusiasts who are coming out with hundreds of ideas, that actually offer some tangible insights various issues. This weekend is the 2014 Bangalore Open Data Camp, hosted by Google,…

Data is often underestimated or ignored in public affairs, especially in the local governance space. Claims can go wrong, but data cannot lie. Data is what gives you the real picture of any given situation. With more and more data being put in public domain in India, there are so many things one can do with it, to get insights and plan the related issues better. Thankfully there are many data enthusiasts who are coming out with hundreds of ideas, that actually offer some tangible insights various issues. This weekend is the 2014 Bangalore Open Data Camp, hosted by Google,…

Even after the elections are notified, all the parties have kept their list of candidates in suspense. However, here is some gossip from the political corridors for you! Enjoy reading! What is Congress doing? Congress is experimenting in Bangalore North with ‘primaries’ where internal voting will be done by the party members and the winner will contest the elections. Primaries will be held between Rajeev Gowda, B L Shankar and others, on March 8. Rajeev Gowda is an ex-IIMB professor, who also headed IIMB’s Centre for Public Policy. B L Shankar is a veteran politician with relatively clean history and…

Even after the elections are notified, all the parties have kept their list of candidates in suspense. However, here is some gossip from the political corridors for you! Enjoy reading! What is Congress doing? Congress is experimenting in Bangalore North with ‘primaries’ where internal voting will be done by the party members and the winner will contest the elections. Primaries will be held between Rajeev Gowda, B L Shankar and others, on March 8. Rajeev Gowda is an ex-IIMB professor, who also headed IIMB’s Centre for Public Policy. B L Shankar is a veteran politician with relatively clean history and…

Election reporting is an interesting area. One gets to see the real faces of candidates and their followers, besides coming across a bunch of funny experiences. Here's a collection of such experiences from the Citizen Matters team.It was about 6.30 in the evening. Around 40 people were going around shouting slogans for Shobha Karandlaje, in Rajaji Nagar. She would reach there in another half an hour.Except a handful of middle-aged men leading the pack, no other supporters seemed as loud or dramatic as supporters usually are. About half of them were women. The men seemed young and sophisticated, some with…

Election reporting is an interesting area. One gets to see the real faces of candidates and their followers, besides coming across a bunch of funny experiences. Here's a collection of such experiences from the Citizen Matters team.It was about 6.30 in the evening. Around 40 people were going around shouting slogans for Shobha Karandlaje, in Rajaji Nagar. She would reach there in another half an hour.Except a handful of middle-aged men leading the pack, no other supporters seemed as loud or dramatic as supporters usually are. About half of them were women. The men seemed young and sophisticated, some with…

My friend Sravana Dasary posted this: That's a great way to document the fact that her family's voted! Each of us needs to vote, to take an active part in our own governance...to ensure that the nasties and the goons don't reign over us. So...what does YOUR finger say? Have you voted? I hope you have! ⊕

My friend Sravana Dasary posted this: That's a great way to document the fact that her family's voted! Each of us needs to vote, to take an active part in our own governance...to ensure that the nasties and the goons don't reign over us. So...what does YOUR finger say? Have you voted? I hope you have! ⊕

It is election season in the city and the rest of the state. Most of the local news is about the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates and various political parties, campaign activities, problems existing in different constituencies and . In addition to this, are stories about voter awareness drives, poll code violations, contestant support campaigns by groups such as B.PAC and Praja Rajakiya Vedike, a political platform launched in 2010. Apart from all this, there are some specific groups of people who have brought out what they expect of the representatives to be elected, through detailed manifestos. These include…