Ravi Krishna Reddy

[This is the English version of the interview that was published earlier at Oneindia-Kannada.]

1. What is the provocation to contest election?
Karnataka has seen worst kind of politics and erosion of values in public life in recent times. We need to change this prevalent culture of unethical politics for our people to have any kind of decent and dignified living. People who have the sense of democracy and justice, and who can afford to enter public life should enter politics and provide leadership. Most of our current representatives are from real-estate and mining-mafia and the remaining are from established, corrupt, political families. They have no sense of democracy and welfare of the people. This will change only if more and more educated and well-informed people come forward and start providing alternate leadership.

2. How will you campaign because elections require money?
Election Commission has a spending limit of Rs. 16 lakhs for an MLA candidate. But, we all know that most of our candidates from political parties and some of the independent candidates, would spend tens of crores, making mockery of this spending limit. They spend this money not on publicity, but to buy votes by distributing money, sarees, gold rings, liquor, etc. Everyone can run a decent campaign within Rs. 16 lakhs if they don’t resort to these unethical practices. My campaign is public funded. I intend to raise this money from voters, well-wishers and like-minded people who want and support clean politics. All our contributions and expenses will be made public at my website: www.ravikrishnareddy.com. I believe this is the way to fight money power in elections.

3. Urban voters are not interested in elections. How are you going to overcome this attitude and raise voter awareness and participation?
Lately, urban voters did not have good choices. Builders and real-estate developers have started getting party tickets by their sheer money power and the well-informed voters did not want to go out and vote for these candidates who were not eligible for holding a public-office and not worthy of their trust. This time, Loksatta as a party is providing an alternative in many constituencies in the city and our candidates are well educated, well informed, and have a track record of public service. We believe this provides an opportunity for urban voters to exercise their franchise and support clean politics.

4. What is the agenda for BTM/Bangalore?
You can find the worst traffic in the city in BTM Layout constituency and it is one of the very few constituencies in Bengaluru where Metro won’t run. Silk Board, Forum, Dairy Circle, Bannerghatta Road, Jayadeva, BTM Bus Stop, Koramangala, Sarjapura Road; all these roads have bumper to bumper traffic throughout the day. This has direct implication on the health of the residents in this constituency. People here constantly suffer from chronic allergy and pollution related diseases. We need to increase public transportation and encourage people to park their vehicles in some designated parking places in the city and take public transportation to reach to IT Park and Electronic City. Mere 10-20% decrease in peak hour traffic would help in a big way.

Madiwala lake is one of the largest lakes in the city and it is very poorly managed. This lake and the surrounding area should be developed as a mini-Lalbagh in the south side of the city. Lot of money has been pumped into this lake for many years, but it is in a very bad condition. We must stop encroachment and construction inside lake’s property and build a good pathway for walkers around the entire stretch of the lake.

Bangalore city lacks public libraries and public toilets. In every ward there should be at least 3 public libraries (one per 10000 voters) and a community hall for public use. And, each and every road with significant business establishments, major bus-stops, and public parks should have toilet facilities.

We need to strengthen public school system and make education affordable to poor and middle class. There are many slums in the constituency that has not produced a graduate, let alone an engineer or a doctor. There is a glaring poverty in the constituency which should to be alleviated through education and good jobs. Vocational training and placement opportunities should be made available to people in the constituency who would otherwise resort to doing menial, low-paying, occasional jobs.

We should also push the government to implement urban poor housing projects for BPL citizens in the constituency.

5. How are you planning to achieve the agenda?
There are already many projects in government that are failing due to poor oversight and corruption. I will not only concentrate on infrastructure development, but also on education, employment, and safety. BBMP is mired in corruption and the corporators have become money collectors and de-facto sanctioning authorities for construction works. We need to have transparency in governance and infrastructure related projects to stop corruption and encourage people to participate more in the issues related to public projects.

Urban poverty is going to be a huge issue and we need to have a good plan to battle it.

All sewage water to Madiwala lake should be stopped and the lake ecosystem should be restored.

6. What is the role of civil society in your electoral battle?
We have reached to each and every corner of the constituency with our campaign material at least once. People have started recognizing what we are trying to do with our contest in the elections. Everyday people are calling and lending their support and offering to volunteer for us. This is a good sign that would only increase in the coming days. I am also writing to RWAs and will also be meeting them to put forth my agenda for the constituency.

Ravi Krishna Reddy is a software engineer, writer, and social/political activist. He is a native of Bommasandra, a village near Bengaluru. He has been an IT professional for the past fifteen years, of which 10 years were in the United States. Two years ago he returned to India to pursue social activism and carry out his social responsibilities.

Ravi Krishna Reddy has written extensively in Kannada, in newspapers, magazines and on the web. So far, he has published four books. In 2006, he also started a Kannada weekly magazine called “Vikranta Karnataka” to provide an alternative media platform. He continues to pursue those interests through two Kannada e-Magazines that he edits: www.vicharamantapa.net and www.vartamaana.com. He has also produced a video documentary in Kannada, ‘ಭೂಮಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು ಹೇಗೆ?‘.

In 2011, Ravi had lodged a private complaint in the Lokayukta court against B.S. Yeddyurappa, (Ex. CM) and minister V. Somanna alleging illegal denotification of BDA land. The court has taken cognizance of the case and the trial is pending.

He took a sabbatical for a month from his work in the US during the last State Assembly Elections – 2008, went on a 3-days hunger strike in Bengaluru for “Maulyagraha” (demanding values in public life) and contested the 2008 Assembly Elections from Jayanagar. His publicly funded campaign intended to register a protest against unethical politics. He had raised and spent 4.22 lakhs, and made his accounts public through the internet.