With the Election season incumbent upon us, amid popular rhetorics and future promises, there are candidates who’ve displayed impressive progress when in power and before getting there. They all believe that their work will speak for them as they face the ongoing 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Here’s a list of candidates that we at The Logical Indian thought have Powerful Portfolios based on either their ground work or performance in parliament.
#1 Atishi Marlena from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
Atishi Marlena who has chosen to be known mononymously as ‘Atishi’ is the only woman candidate fielded by AAP at the National Capital. She is a first-time candidate and hopes to rise to the helm at the East Delhi constituency against Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely and BJP’s cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir.
Her constituency goes to vote on 12th of May, 2019
- An exemplary academic record
She holds two Masters degrees one from Oxford University which she achieved on a Chevening scholarship and the other in Educational Research from Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.
On returning home, she taught History and English as a teacher at Rishi Valley School before spending seven years in a village near Bhopal where she worked on progressive education systems and became a part of several NGOs. This is when she became part of AAP.
Today, she’s a member of the AAP’s Political Affairs Committee & a National Executive.
Advisor too.
- Work in the field of Education
It is not her personal education but the work she has done in the field of Education that is a part of her campaign rhetoric. Atishi has worked as an advisor to the Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia for the last four years. She has been a vital part in launching the ‘Happy Curriculum’ that focuses on the social-emotional development of children and claims to be a solid step towards creating good human beings. She has been instrumental in bringing infrastructural and operational changes in Public Schools.
- Representation of women in the Parliament
As the only woman candidate from AAP in Delhi, she also hopes to win the women votes in her favour. Her campaign interestingly speaks of the attention that Women’s Healthcare deserves and how it is often a forgotten topic within a household budget. As a supporter of the Women Reservation Bill to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in the Parliament, she told news18 “Politics is far more complex and difficult than other professions as it takes over your own personal life…it becomes more challenging for women,”
#2 M B Rajesh from Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)]
Armed with a Masters in Economics and a graduate degree in Law, Rajesh has served as the All India Joint Secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and as the All India President of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in Kerala. M B Rajesh is a two-time winning incumbent MP from Palakkad; a district that has recently seen the steady rise of BJP especially during the Sabarimala Temple row. He, however, is confident of retaining power and dismisses that Palakkad will be a triangular tussle between the UDF, LDF and BJP.
Voters voted yesterday on 23rd April in the 3rd phase of Lok Sabha elections in Kerala to decide their MP. The results will be out on 23rd, May 2019
Here’s an overview of the work MB Rajesh has accomplished.
- Rajesh has a stellar record at the parliament.
With a Parliamentary Attendance of 84%, and participation in 238 debates Rajesh has also raised 578 questions in the parliament. The PRS legislative research tracks his active parliamentary presence as follows.
- He has won the seat to power in the last two general elections
This is the third time MB Rajesh is representing CPI (M) for the Palakkad constituency and his party remains undefeated in the Palakkad turf since 1996. Here’s how he fared in the last two General Elections in 2009 and 2014:
- MB Rajesh’s performance report card
Rajesh also released a report card stating his performance over the last term. New Indian Express reported, “Rajesh has released his report card which mentions the IIT Palakkad, Passport Seva Kendra, Dialysis and Cancer care facilities at Ottappalam, the decision of the state government to take over Instrumentation Limited (IL) when the Centre decided to close it, preventing disinvestment of BEML and improving road connectivity to the remote oorus (parts) of Attappadi.” He is among a few MPs who send their kids to government schools.
It is also clear from what he told The News Minute that he is confident that his work from the previous term which he recorded in his ‘performance report card’ he published will set him apart from his competing candidates.
#3 Dr Kirit Premjibhai Solanki from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
A medical doctor by qualification, Dr.Kirit P Solanki is an able parliamentarian who is also a two-time incumbent MP contesting from Ahmedabad West ever since the constituency first held elections in 2009. The constituency was created in 2008 as a part of the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies when the seat of Ahmedabad was split into Ahmedabad East and Ahmedabad West.
In terms of education qualification, Dr.Solanki holds an M.B.B.S, M.S and is also a F.I.C.S (Fellow of International College of Surgeon) degree. Before entering politics Dr.Solanki was invested in teaching, as a professor of Surgery for 38 years at B.J. Medical College and NHL Medical College, Ahmedabad. Highly revered in the field of surgery he was elected the President of Gujarat State Surgeons Association for 2011-2012.
- A Good Parliamentary track record
Dr. Solanki has a parliamentary attendance of 97% and has raised 333 debates in the parliament against a national average of 67.1. He has also raised 416 questions against a National average of 293, making quite an impressive record.
- No criminal charges
This venerated sitting MP too, faces absolutely no criminal charges against him. - Incumbent MP with a strong majority
Here’s how Dr. Solanki fared in the last two Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014. He is an MP who has increased his winning vote margin in successive terms.
4. Popular for Private bills and activity for SCs
Dr Solanki has undoubtedly garnered the goodwill of his constituency and is known for his private member’s bills, he raised a record of 37 against a national average 2.3 and a state average of 2.6. He ranks as the second highest to raise the private member’s bills behind BJP Nishikant Dubey’s number of 48. Some of the Bills have garnered media attention and they include, The Compulsory Mental Health Care in Government Schools Bill which aims at providing mental health support to children especially in village areas, the Acid (Control) Bill 2014, which aims to curb the sale of acid and the Domestic Workers(Decent Working Conditions) Bill 2015, which aims to put just processes in place for the sector.
Being the MP of a constituency reserved for the (SC) Scheduled Castes, he is known for being a member of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes since 2010 and even became the chairperson of it in July 2016.
His constituency voted on 23rd April in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where he faces INC’s veteran Rajya Sabha member Raju Parmar.
Also Read: Meet The MP And MLAs From Kerala, Delhi Who Send Their Children To Govt Schools
