Engineering India's Future.

Engineering a Dream

Ravi Kumara, a final year student of BMS College of Engineering, is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from the prestigious Bangalore South constituency as an independent candidate. He sold his second-hand bike to raise the deposit money.

Ravi's Candidate Identity Card Issued by the Returning Officer

Ravi Kumara isn’t doing it for fun or his 30-seconds of fame, but there is a healthy insouciance written all over him. This final year student of BMS College of Engineering mobilised the deposit amount of Rs 10,000 to contest the elections as an independent candidate from the prestigious Bangalore South constituency by selling his second-hand bike and by borrowing from friends.

Against the money, muscle and machinery of BJP heavyweight Ananth Kumar and Congress Young Turk Krishna Byre Gowda, Ravi has an election budget of just Rs 100 a day and, of course, an implacable sense of mission. “I will start campaigning in three days’ time. This I plan to do only in the afternoons, after my class hours. I will be purchasing a bus pass and will travel around to campaign. A few of my friends are also going to accompany me,” said Ravi.

The response that he has been receiving, he admits, is both inspiring and bemused. “When I first announced that I would contest this election, my friends mocked me for days! Later, when they realised that I was actually serious, many backed out from lending support while some remained committed.

“My principal wished me well and so did all my teachers. This is the first time that a student of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) is doing something like this. When my principal spoke to the Vice Chancellor about this, he was equally surprised. Even when I went to file my papers, people stared at me like I was a strange animal. The whole procedure took me nearly ten days, and now my papers have been accepted. I will be getting a symbol on April 8,” he said.

THE MOTIVATION

“It’s a fact today that there is a large gap between youth and politics. Look around and you will notice that everyone wants to become either a doctor or an engineer. In spite of all the cribbing, no one is interested in sorting out problems. This is the reason why I made up my mind to get into politics, something that I had decided since my school days,” Ravi said. “There is also the negative image of politicians among youngsters who feel that only money power will get votes. I want to prove otherwise,” he added.

Seems like there are also very practical reasons behind his decision. “Let’sface it. Not many graduates are getting jobs today. I did not want to end up doing nothing after graduation, and this was my best bet. This is also one other profession where you do not have to work under others. That’s also the reason I decided to stand as an independent candidate,” Ravi said.

LESSONS FROM LIFE

Twenty-six-year-old Ravi, who has filed his nomination for Lok Sabha polls, is from a village called Hagari Bommanahalli (H B Halli) in Bellary

Twenty-six-year-old Ravi is from a village called Hagari Bommanahalli (HB Halli) in Bellary district. “I did my schooling in Rashtranna Vidya Kendra in the village, and my pre-university course at the Government PU College there. After this I worked in the fields for two years. I then got an opportunity to pursue a course in engineering at BMSCE where I got a government seat. But then, it was difficult to adjust to the fast-paced life here. I would work part-time in call centres to pay my college fees, and even lost two years because of a financial crunch and also due to health reasons. I am still sailing today, and in two months’ time I will get a degree in engineering,” he said. His financial woes are far from over and he stays at a friend’s place.

FUTURE PLANS READY

Nobody can blame Ravi for not having given enough thought to his priorities in case he wins. “All my work will be very transparent. For this, I will be setting up a website where people will know all that I am doing. I also plan to set up a call centre kind of a system where they can voice their problems. In order to bridge the gap between administration and the common man, I am actually giving my mobile numbers to everyone. How many people have their ministers mobile number?” he asked. “The issue about corruption has long been debated by everyone. Did you know that there is a bill called Lok Pak Bill which questions ministers about all they do? It’s been there since 1968. I want to push that forward,” he added. At the moment though, he is more focussed on the present. “With BMS Utsav, my college fest, happening this weekend, I plan to interact with youngsters. Being young myself, I know what they want. I have also struggled like them and so they should give me an opportunity by voting for me,” he said.