The election manifesto of the Lok Satta Party, which is contesting elections to the Legislative Assembly, was released on Saturday with the focus on providing effective governance to bring about a qualitative change in society. This is the first time that the Lok Satta Party is contesting Assembly elections in Karnataka.
The party, founded by the former IAS officer Jayaprakash Narayan, introduced four of the candidates being fielded from Bangalore at a press conference here on Saturday. They are Meenakshi Bharath, a gynaecologist being fielded from Malleswaram constituency, Ashwin Mahesh, a former NASA scientist being fielded from Bommanahalli, Shanthala Damle, a software engineer from Basavanagudi constituency and Ravi Krishna Reddy from BTM Layout.
Dr. Ashwin Mahesh, who contested the Legislative Council elections from the graduates constituency in 2012 and polled 4,800 votes (about 1,000 votes less than the winner) is the president of the Karnataka unit of the Lok Satta Party. Dr. Meenakshi Bharath was one among the five candidates fielded by the party in the last elections to the council of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.
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Releasing the party manifesto, Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said: “We have to transform Bangalore in particular and Karnataka in general and the ensuing elections will be the epicentre of the change. I am sure the elections here will provide ample political opportunity. The people of Karnataka are disgusted with the developments over the past and are looking forward to a change and the Lok Satta Party will do its best to bring about a government which will be run by the people.”
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The highlights of the manifesto are: comprehensive government-supported agricultural insurance programme to cover farmers against weather risks and market price fluctuations; one agri-clinic for every 3,000 acres of land; 12 hours of three-phase uninterrupted power supply to every village in Karnataka; cold storage for agri produce in every district and better access to loans sought by farmers; no more acquisition of farmland by planning authorities, only joint development of land so that farmers also gain along with those who develop the land; comprehensive programme to ensure women’s safety and every police station will have at least one woman officer.