ELECTIONS

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…

In a democracy, the minimum that we should be able to expect is HOLDING ELECTIONS ON TIME. But it seems now that even this basic threshold is not guaranteed in Karnataka. Yesterday, the legislature passed a law - with all parties agreeing - that the State Election Commission cannot schedule elections to local bodies (like BBMP and other city governments) without its 'consent'. I.e. if the state government feels the time is not right for holding elections, that's the way it will be. The Election Commission of India controls only Parliament and Assembly elections, and those are constitutionally anchored. Elections…

In a democracy, the minimum that we should be able to expect is HOLDING ELECTIONS ON TIME. But it seems now that even this basic threshold is not guaranteed in Karnataka. Yesterday, the legislature passed a law - with all parties agreeing - that the State Election Commission cannot schedule elections to local bodies (like BBMP and other city governments) without its 'consent'. I.e. if the state government feels the time is not right for holding elections, that's the way it will be. The Election Commission of India controls only Parliament and Assembly elections, and those are constitutionally anchored. Elections…

"Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose", said someone. But, for many people who often lose the little that they have, freedom is another wor(l)d. And that wor(l)d did not appear on 15th August 1947 or later for the majority who live in India at present. In fact, such a wor(l)d may never exist at all for this majority. So, sometime in mid 2007 some of us in Bangalore and other parts of the country decided that we should support and celebrate ongoing struggles for freedom. From that emerged the idea of a Civil Society Summit (CSS) -…

"Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose", said someone. But, for many people who often lose the little that they have, freedom is another wor(l)d. And that wor(l)d did not appear on 15th August 1947 or later for the majority who live in India at present. In fact, such a wor(l)d may never exist at all for this majority. So, sometime in mid 2007 some of us in Bangalore and other parts of the country decided that we should support and celebrate ongoing struggles for freedom. From that emerged the idea of a Civil Society Summit (CSS) -…

As some of you know, ABIDe member and urban affairs strategist Ashwin Mahesh is running for a seat in the Karnataka Legislative Council under the graduates constituency this month. He is campaigning on a Lok Satta party ticket.We must also let you know that Mahesh is one of the directors of Oorvani Media, the firm that publishes Citizen Matters (this print and online magazine covering Bangalore) and India Together, the national e-magazine covering public affairs and development. All over the world, it is true that politicians starting media outfits, and media, have tended to play a dubious role in politics.…

As some of you know, ABIDe member and urban affairs strategist Ashwin Mahesh is running for a seat in the Karnataka Legislative Council under the graduates constituency this month. He is campaigning on a Lok Satta party ticket.We must also let you know that Mahesh is one of the directors of Oorvani Media, the firm that publishes Citizen Matters (this print and online magazine covering Bangalore) and India Together, the national e-magazine covering public affairs and development. All over the world, it is true that politicians starting media outfits, and media, have tended to play a dubious role in politics.…

  I answered the knock on my door and found two smiling ladies outside, who asked me if our names were already on the electoral rolls. "No," I said, explaining how we could not find our names either in our old locality or our present one. The ladies, Padma and Nagaratna, immediately gave me two forms to fill, and submit, along with passport photographs, for including our names in the electoral rolls.  It was good to see these ladies going to all the apartments and taking down details, meticulously. If only every government employee were as hard-working as this!  Three cheers for Padma and…

  I answered the knock on my door and found two smiling ladies outside, who asked me if our names were already on the electoral rolls. "No," I said, explaining how we could not find our names either in our old locality or our present one. The ladies, Padma and Nagaratna, immediately gave me two forms to fill, and submit, along with passport photographs, for including our names in the electoral rolls.  It was good to see these ladies going to all the apartments and taking down details, meticulously. If only every government employee were as hard-working as this!  Three cheers for Padma and…

For over ten days now, Citizen Matters has followed the hectic election campaigns of candidates around the city. A mixed reality has already come out from our talking to candidates, their campaigners and voters. Some, for e.g. in Koramangala ward, have told us this: historically middle and high income groups (‘English-educated avaru’) won’t come out and vote on election day, so we cannot count on them for actually winning the race. We’ll stick to the ‘slums’.Others have done the opposite. Depending on the ward itself, many mainline party candidates have taken out door-to-door campaigns canvassing in higher income neighbourhoods and…