From Silicon Valley to dust bowl
BANGALORE: Janardhana Swamy could be described as “eccentric’’.
What else would one call a software engineer, with a big pay cheque in Silicon Valley at a young age of 41, deciding to come to dusty and dry Chitradurga to try his luck in politics? Contesting the Chitradurga reserve Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket, Swamy was born in a remote village Kallihatti in Chitradurga taluk. After his BE from UBDT College, Davanagere and post-graduation in electrical and communication from Indian Institute of Science, he left for the US, where as chief engineer at Sun Microsystems, he has several patents in chip designing.
Poverty at a young age and the technological gap between India and US brought him to politics.
He has big dreams for Chitradurga and his objectives include: Apply science and technology to farming; water, roads and uninterrupted power; education; help students; develop intellectual property. “I must show gratitude to society by winning this election,’’ he says.
Lotus bloom spurs prof to contest
Prof KE Radhakrishna, who has taken the plunge in electoral politics by contesting as a JD(S) candidate from Bangalore South, wi l l take on BJP’s Ananth Kumar and Krishna Byregowda of the Congress.
Though he is contesting elections for the first time, he has headed students’, teachers’, and principals’ associations at the state and national levels.
Hailing from a family of agriculturists in Dakshina Kannada, he says, “Despite being busy with academics, I have been emotionally and intellectually attached to the Janata Parivar.” He held the “alarming” growth of ‘Operation Kamala’ as the reason for his decision to contest.
“The BJP leaders have made elected representatives purchasable commodities,” said Radhakrishna.
He said his focus would be education.
Of the 30 crore illiterates in the country, 20 crore were in around 14 years old. “My priority will be to see that all children complete schooling.”
This should be easy: Gopinath
As a retired captain, he has all the lure of a patriot. Low cost air travel — Deccan Aviation — is how he is popular. In between are the others — an international award for ‘Ecological Silk Farming to Improve Living Standards’ and ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur’ the highest civilian award conferred by the French government.
As an independent candidate for the Bangalore South constituency, Captain Gopinath will take on BJP’s Ananth Kumar and Congress’ Krishna Byre Gowda.
Speaking of the battle a few days back, he had observed: “I did it single handedly at Deccan Aviation. This should be easier.” He banks on support of friends in the industry.
He wants to make Bangalore a dream city.
Roads, infrastructure, corruption are all issues.
“Can you get anything done at the BBMP without paying a bribe,” remarks Captain Gopinath, who has served as Commissioned Officer in the Army for eight years.