Before vote After vote Act now, to prevent this !

For the past few decades, at election time I have reluctantly gone out and voted for someone, anyone - there was no great difference between candidates, the choice was between the devil and the deep blue sea. And look what I got ! The worst managed city, in the most corrupt state in the country.

3 years ago I came to know Dr. Meenakshi Bharath when she spoke to a group of people in Sadashivanagar about waste segregation and recycling, prompting us to to start Sada Zero waste segregation movement. I learnt that she was one of a small group of people who had initiated the waste segregation movement in Bangalore. I also learnt about her work in Malleswaram improving voter registration, providing free medicare, etc.

I was thrilled to hear that Dr. Meenakshi was the Loksatta party candidate for the MLA elections, from the Malleswaram constituency. I now have a candidate that I actively want as my MLA. So this is what I plan to do, and why.

1. I am going to vote for Dr. Meenakshi.Why ? Because she is someone who will work for the joy of improving things, not someone who will work for the joy of improving their bank balance. She will not initiate useless projects just to spend public money to skim off a percentage.

2. I am going to campaign for her, personally.Why ? Because it is not enough if I just vote and sit back. If I want her to win, I must also go out and convince other people to vote for her. Her opponents are going to be busy buying votes with money. I hope to counter this in my own small way. I'm going to go door-to-door for an hour or two every day and talk to people about her, convince them to vote for her. I'm going to do this in Sadashivanagar, Guttahalli, Vyalikaval, or wherever else I can.

3. I am not going to listen to cynics and pessimists. This is what I hear, and my replies:What's the use ? Things are not going to change, whatever you do.My reply: Things can change, will change, if enough of us take an active part in politics. By voting for, campaigning for, and supporting the right candidate with our time and

money. They will not change if we sit on our butts and complain.

Oh, all these politicians are the same. They are all there for the money.My reply: Oh, really ? Is every one a thief or murderer ? Are you a thief or murderer ? Do you do everything just for monetary gain ? Haven't you done things in your life just for the joy of giving, for improving things? Why do you believe that there are not others like you out there ? The fact is that our apathy in the past has resulted in the wrong people getting elected.

Loksatta is an unknown party, it's MLAs will not have a voice in the assembly, and will not be able to get money for their constituency. Might as well vote for a large party with clout.My reply: The Loksatta Party has a single MLA in the AP assembly, but he is THE most effective and active person in the house. While other parties can issue a whip to force their members to vote in a certain way in the assembly, the Loksatta Party has a clear policy of not issuing a whips. This means any MLA of the Loksatta Party can vote according to his or her conscience or constituency's preference. Your constituency gets Rs. 60 crore over 5 years for developmental works, irrespective of which party your MLA and corporator belong to. That's a lot of money, that's been misused in the past - look at all the useless projects around you, that nobody asked for.

Why waste my vote on someone who may not win ? I would rather vote for a big party that will definitely win.My reply: If you vote for an honest candidate, you improve society. If you vote for a corrupt person just because you support his party or belong to his religion or caste, you encourage the cancer of corruption that is killing this country. For candidates of traditional parties, politics is a business: “I invest X in the elections, and want returns of Y over the next 5 years”. If enough of us vote for the honest candidate, optimistically this person wins. Pessimistically he/she loses by a margin that is small enough to scare the corrupt person who won, so the person is less corrupt in future. Either way, you win because your vote has changed things for the better.

Your vote can

4. In other words, I am going to be extremely selfish and go all out to support a candidate who is good for me.If you believe that what I am saying is right, be selfish and:

1. Vote for Dr. Meenakshi Bharath2. Convince other people to vote for her, in the Malleshwaram consituency (which

includes these areas: Malleshwaram, Sadashivanagar, Guttahalli, Vyalikaval, Mattikere, Subramanya Nagar, Kadu Malleswara and Gayathri Nagar)

3. If you live in some other constituency, vote for the honest candidate there.

Get in touch with me at dasarathigv@gmail.com to join my door-to-door crusade.Dasarathi GV (Das). Resident of Sadashivanagar.