The Mekedatu project has been proposed, opposed and has lain forgotten several times over the past many decades. However, the project idea is revived during every election. The current issue of water shortage in Bengaluru has particularly spurred interest in it again. Politicians from both the BJP and Congress in Karnataka are now using the project as an election campaign talking point. Mekedatu, which is Kannada for goat’s crossing, is a rocky outcrop along the river Cauvery. It is situated within the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, around three kilometres from the confluence of Arkavathy and Cauvery River. Read more: Water shortage…

Name: Arvind Sawant Constituency: Mumbai South Two-term member of Parliament from Mumbai South constituency, Arvind Sawant, 73, started his political journey as a party worker with the Shiv Sena, when he started participating in agitations such as the Maharashtra- Karnataka border dispute protests.  He got into the trade union movement, when he founded the workers union of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam limited (MTNL), where he worked.  Subsequently, he quit his job in 1995 to plunge into full-time politics and was nominated twice as member of legislative council ( MLC) from 1996-2010. He also played an active role in the Bharatiya…