At Citizen Matters, our election coverage is focused almost entirely on data, long form journalism and in-depth conversations with candidates, not about party politics but their vision and policies for the constituency. Yet the challenge of getting 30 minutes with a Union Minister a few days before the campaign ended was always going to be difficult. We finally managed to get her to give us five minutes in a moving car and here is what she shared with us.  Shobha Karandlaje, the JD(S)-BJP coalition candidate from Bangalore North is one of the better known women candidates in the fray for…

As the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections concluded on April 19th, Tamil Nadu recorded a voter turnout of 69.46 % with the three constituencies in Chennai — Chennai North, Chennai South and Chennai Central — having an overall voter percentage of 55.94% according to the Chief Electoral Officer in Tamil Nadu. Many people voiced their disappointment at the apparent lack of enthusiasm among voters in the city to exercise their franchise. The numbers are lower compared to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and 2014, when the voter percentages were 72.47% and 73.74% respectively. Often, after the…