THE ECONOMIC TIMES (BENGALURU) Parliaments Mightier than the Pen! KR Balasubramanyam Pratap Simha, 38, is not a politician by profession, but be came one by circumstance. A journalist until he em braced the BJP weeks before the Lok Sabha polls, he thinks his life has Sabha polls, he thinks his life has taken a dramatic turn ever since his election as an MP. “Earlier, I enjoyed the absolute freedom of expression, and my opinions through my column were seen as my independent views. But if I say similar things now, regardless of their objectivity, they are seen as the BJPs views, and I come under attack. I am doing a tightrope walk as I have to talk less, get everyone along, and show results,“ says the youngest MP from Karnataka, who represents Mysuru-Kodagu constituency in the Lok Sabha. ru-Kodagu constituency in the Lok Sabha. The former journalist is both happy as well as uneasy that all sorts of problems are thrown at his doorstep -whether they are the mandate of an MP or not. People complain to him for seemingly-trivial issues -from non-removal of garbage in a certain Mysuru locality to minor problems in a gram panchayat in a rural suburb. “I am, however, happy about one suburb. “I am, however, happy about on thing: there is a great deal of awareness about the PMs Clean India campaign, and people are voluntarily organising clean-up programmes, and inviting me to be part of them,“ Simha says. Ask him about his contribution to his constituency comprising two districts and about 2.9 million people, and he reels off 2.9 million people, and he reels off the details: like speeding up the work on doubling of railway tracks between Mysuru and Bengaluru; getting a proposed high-speed rail project extended up to Mysuru; project extended up to Mysuru; commissioning a survey for train services up to Kodagu district, amongst many more. “Mysuru gets more tourists in a year than % the Taj Mahal, yet we dont have a Passport Seva Kendra. I have got a passport seva camp which will soon be upgraded into a N kendra,“ Simha says. On life as MP in the Modi era, he says it is a demanding job. “Every BJP MP has his role and responsi bility clearly defined. No one can skip Parliament sessions nor es cape responsibility. If there is a party meeting, you have to reach on time, oth erwise the doors are shut. Each MP is account able, and measured on what he or she has de livered. One will either perform or perish.“ Its the former, for now.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 06:27:40 +0000
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