Youth in screening panel is encouraging: KYPCC chief

Youth in screening panel is encouraging: KYPCC chief

With the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Vice-President Rahul Gandhi keen on bringing in youth into politics, members of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress are confident that they will get a fair deal as far as ticket distribution is concerned for the Lok Sabha polls.

Four Youth Congress members from the State, who are aspiring to contest the elections, were interviewed by Mr. Gandhi’s team a month ago.

These aspirants, and 80 others from across the country, have submitted a five-page Potential Candidate Information Sheet, a questionnaire that has been framed to assess the candidates’ ability to fight an election.

One of the aspirants, Rizwan Arshad, who retained his post as the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress recently, is vying for party ticket to contest from Bangalore Central constituency. “Unlike in the past, the screening committee of the AICC has youth leaders as members. This itself is encouraging as we have representation in the screening committee,” Mr. Arshad told The Hindu here on Sunday.

“Mr. Gandhi has put in place a systematic process of selection of candidates. Through this questionnaire, we got an opportunity for self-appraisal. We are confident the younger generation will get a good representation in the final list of party candidates,” he said.

Although veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief is also vying for ticket from Bangalore Central, Mr. Arshad is hopeful of getting a chance as the Congress is moving in the direction of getting more youngsters into Parliament.

Basavanagouda Badarli, who is aiming for ticket to contest from Koppal, said that the new system of selection of candidates was beneficial to young candidates.

“Although two former MLAs, including Amaregouda Baipur, are also vying for party ticket, I am confident of being selected as 50 per cent of voters in my constituency are youth,” he said.

Yogesh H.C., son of the former legislator Chandrashekarappa, and Mohan Asundi are eyeing for party ticket to contest from Shimoga and Dharwad, respectively.

With the former MP Manjunath Konnur and the former Minister A.M. Hindasgeri also trying for ticket from Dharwad, Mr. Asundi has a challenging task ahead.

The same is the case with Mr. Yogesh as the former KPCC general secretary Manjunath Bhandari and the former Minister Kumar Bangarappa are also in the race.

Karnataka: Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC)

Bangalore: It was a case of once bitten, twice shy for the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) - a citizen's forum.

The forum managed to pull off a public debate between all the candidates contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore Central constituency, without any disruptions.

But, this public debate was a 'by invitation' only event. (India Votes 2014: full coverage)

The event had restricted entry; identities of all the attendees and media personnel were scanned to avoid any chaos.

Last week, a similar effort had ended in vain when certain members of the Congress and the BJP disrupted the debate between candidates of the high-profile Bangalore South constituency.

Supporters of BJP candidate Ananth Kumar and Congress's Nandan Nilekani had almost come to blows during the debate. (India Votes 2014: Schedule)

During the three-hour-long event, the various candidates of Bangalore Central constituency -- V Balakrishnan, former Infosys CFO and Aam Aadmi Party candidate, sitting Member of Parliament and BJP leader PC Mohan, Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad and Janata Dal - Secular's (JD-S) Nandini Alva discussed what they intend to do for the next five years if elected as a parliamentarian. (Blog: I support the AAP candidate, but Nandan Nilekani has my best wishes)

"We have volunteers in each of these ward levels. We will get the structure bottoms up, we will get the issues together and we will create a central repository where we will act as a pressure group to make legislators own up responsibility, " said Balakrishanan.

Sitting MP from Bangalore Central -- BJP leader PC Mohan -- said, "Bangalore has a lot of traffic problems. Suburban trains are a must (for the city) . I want to bring in a coordination committee for all transport systems including the railways, suburban trains, BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) and the Metro, so there's a coordination committee for these four transport systems. Then we can lessen the pressure on the traffic. "

Rizwan Arshad, the relatively young leader of the Congress, was hopeful about upsetting the chances of the BJP in the party's bastion.

"I will stand up for my constituency in Parliament and demand our rights. I have been a youth activist and a part of many movements," he said.

JD-S leader Nandini Alva said, "I have a comprehensive plan for women empowerment starting from financial empowerment to social empowerment."

The organizers of the event believe that the amount of public participation in the event, despite restricted entry, was at least a start as, they fear, India may not yet be ready for public political debates after the ugly scenes witnessed during the debate between candidates from Bangalore South constituency.

"This particular programme, when candidates met citizens, went off without a hitch. I think it was a very, very useful programme. I think citizens got to understand what the candidates wanted to do and deliver for the city of Bangalore as MPs," said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Biocon CMD and a member of B.PAC.

Bangalore Central is the highest revenue generating constituency for Karnataka, thanks to the huge commercial establishments located here.

But even in a high-profile constituency like this one, issues like interrupted electricity supply, corruption, bad roads and shortage in the supply of drinking water remain the most major issues for the residents.

"The one-on-one between candidates helped us understand what each person intends to do and who has his/her agenda cut out if voted to power. It was very useful." said Keerthi Rao, a voter from Bangalore Central constituency.

Rizwan Arshad's supporter from Australia

Rizwan Arshad's supporter from Australia - Mohammed Ali Khan comes all the way to Bangalore to Support him. Here is his quote.

"I have known Rizwan Arshad for Many years and him being nominated for LS poll made me proud. I live in Australia and I was practically kept in touch with online media on Rizwana nomination, the minute I heard he was the candidate for Bangalore Central I took off to lend my support to a true down to earth person. Today's campaigning started off at 8 am and I have been with rizwan throughout, it was a emotional and humble experience seeing him get that love and affection from people of all walks of life. He is truly a great leader of masses. Today's experience for me personally was exhausting, but rizwan was upbeat all through and had time to talk to every individual who approached him, which reflects his character and a great indication of what the people of Bangalore Central can achieve or get from this humble down to earth person. I truly enjoyed today's campaigning and look forward to Being there for him whenever he needs me in any manner and at anytime of the day. I end the night with lots of amazing experience and meeting extra ordinary people on the streets with open hands welcoming me as part of Rizwana entourage. Good luck rizwan and you sure are already a Winner.''

Rizwan Arshad for MP - Bangalore Central

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Rizwan Arshad for MP - Bangalore Central

Full Name:Rizwan Arshad

Current Portfolio:INC candidate in Bangalore Central Lok Sabha Constituency

Constituency:Bangalore Central Lok Sabha Constituency

Political Party:Congress

Supporters:15

Profile

Rizwan Arshad is a young, dynamic and committed leader who is aspiring to improve the conditions of Central Bangalore constituency. Rizwan Arshad is Indian National Congress party's Lok Sabha candidate from Bangalore Central constituency. He is also the current President of the Karnataka State Youth Congress, serving in this position since 2011.

As a member of the Indian Youth Congress and then as President of Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress, Rizwan Arshad is involved in mobilizing and organizing various programs including training, orientation, enrollment and meetings of all Youth Congress members across Karnataka. Current responsibilities include a sustained Youth Congress representation and participation in all relevant Indian National Congress party programs, motivating youth congress members to work towards the party manifesto, support all welfare activities and programs. Rizwan Arshad Organizes several camps and programs to propagate the various Congress Party and Govt. schemes to reach out to citizens of Karnataka. He Channels the collective energies of the youth congress members across Karnataka by mentoring, motivating them to champion the right causes to help citizens.

2011- current	President, Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee
2010- 2011	National Secretary, Indian Youth Congress
2004-2010	Vice President Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee
1999-2003	National General Secretary, National Student’s Union of India (NSUI)
1998	State General Secretary, Karnataka State Unit NSUI
1997	Vice President Mysore District Unit NSUI
1996	President College Unit NSUI