The prestigious Bengaluru Graduates’ constituency is set to witness a keen tussle between former minister, B Ramachandra Gowda, and ABIDe member and urban planner Prof Ashwin Mahesh in elections to the Legislative Council scheduled for June 11.
Prof Mahesh, a debutant has locked horns with a veteran politician in Mr Ramachandra Gowda who has won four elections on the trot from this prestigious constituency. The former has combined his electioneering with a massive campaign for enrolment of voters, and even roped in former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde to launch his drive to add more voters to the list of graduates in the constituency. His intentions are to send across a message to politicians that voters will no longer remain silent spectators to falling standards in public life. Instead, they will intervene to correct the system, and restore dignity and purposefulness of democratic institutions.
In comparison, the former deputy chairman of state planning commission plans to attract voters on the basis of his performance as medical education minister in the erstwhile cabinet of Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa. “As minister for medical education, I was instrumental in forcing the government to increase the stipend of students, enhance government medical seats in private colleges, and develop infrastructure in new hospitals. So, if I am re-elected, I will strive to do more for the educated, urban voters,” he told Deccan Chronicle.