Governance

Devaragunda Venkappa (DV) Sadananda Gowda represented Bangalore North Parliamentary constituency in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, marking the fourth term of being re-elected in the Lok Sabha elections since 2004. He has represented Bangalore North for two consecutive terms since the Lok Sabha 2014 elections. He served as the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2011.  In 2014, he was sworn in as the cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first elected government and held the position of Ministry of Railways and other cabinet positions. He also served as the Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation of India from…

One of the three Lok Sabha constituencies representing the city, Chennai South comprises localities maintained by two different civic bodies: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Tambaram Corporation. And thus, the issues prevailing in the constituency are also contrasting. While the localities under Tambaram Corporation are grappling with the lack of basic amenities, those under GCC require improvement in the amenities provided decades ago. Sholinganallur is one of the largest assembly constituencies, with a voter base of six lakh. Chennai South constituency boasts a highly educated populace, with a significant presence of IT industries and educational institutions. Unique to this area…

One of the youngest MPs elected in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, Tejasvi Surya from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represents Bangalore South Parliamentary Constituency. He also continues to be the National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha-a post he has held from 2020. Since 2014, Surya has been an active contributor to BJP, by organising rallies and campaigns. He also represented many BJP leaders as a lawyer, and helped B S Yediyurappa in defending him in corruption cases.  Since September 2019, Surya has been a member of Joint Committee on Offices of Profit and Standing Committee on Communications and Information…

Thamizhachi Thangapandian, also known as Sumathy, hails from Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. She is contesting for the second time in the Lok Sabha elections representing the DMK party in the Chennai South constituency.A poet, writer, educationist and theatre person, Thamizhachi entered politics following the footsteps of her father late V Thangapandian, who was a minister in the DMK government under M Karunanidhi. She has a Ph.D. in English Literature and was educated at Thiagarajar College of Arts & Science, Madurai Kamarajar University, Madurai and University of Madras, Chennai. In 2019, Thamizhachi contested from the Chennai South constituency and won…

How do you check if your name is on the electoral rolls? How do you locate your polling booth? Who are the candidates in your constituency? Can you still vote if you don't have a voter ID card? Follow the Citizen Matters voters guide for quick answers to these questions and more. Election of the 18th Lok Sabha will be conducted in seven phases in all starting April 19 and ending on June 1 2024. Counting of votes is scheduled on June 4. In this mammoth and most challenging exercise in the world’s most populous democracy, it is crucial for every…

In its recently released Manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, the IndianNational Congress has promised to bring some much needed reforms in the Indian Parliament. It has promised to ensure that both Houses of Parliament will be in session for 100 days in a year; the opposition parties will be empowered to set agenda for one day in a week and presiding officers (Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairperson of Rajya Sabha) will not be part of any political party to ensure their impartial functioning. The Manifesto released by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also acknowledges thatParliament…

In 2021, some street vendors informed Mohit Valecha, Delhi in-charge of the National Hawker Federation (NHF), that officers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were giving out loan application forms to shopkeepers at Saraswati camp, RK Puram, under the PM SVANidhi scheme. “By the time we reached there, the officers had distributed applications to around 12 of the 20 shopkeepers there. These were junior officers. When we questioned them, they said they did so to meet their targets, and left soon,” says Mohit, who is also All India Youth President of NHF. “I don’t know if the shopkeepers eventually…

The Lok Sabha elections 2024 are scheduled to be held in seven phases between April 19th and June 1st. For the first time, senior citizens aged above 85 and persons with 40% and above disabilities will be able to vote from home. The voters in these two categories must file Form 12 D with the Election Commission. Those who opt for vote-from-home will not be allowed to vote from the polling booth on voting day.  Eligibility for postal ballots Rule 27A of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 has been amended to provide the optional postal ballot facility to ‘Absentee…

As India gets ready to vote to decide who will represent the country in Parliament, Citizen Matters is speaking to elected representatives from Chennai, ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. As part of this series, we had a chat with Kalanidhi Veerasamy, incumbent MP from Chennai North constituency. Dr Kalanidhi has been given the ticket by his party DMK to contest from the same constituency in the 2024 polls. Read more: Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP — Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy, Chennai North Chennai North and Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy The Lok Sabha constituency of Chennai North is composed of six…

Name: Shrikant Shinde Constituency: Kalyan Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde is an orthopaedic surgeon and now a full time politician. The two term MP from Kalyan constituency is getting groomed to be the second most powerful leader in Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction, after his father. Shrikant is a fresh face in the Maharashtra Politics. In 2014, this young politician was in the final year of M.S. (Orthopaedics) when he became MP for the 16th Lok Sabha at the age of 27 - the youngest Maratha member of the parliament ever. In the year 2019, he got…