The rising of alternative politics: Mohan Dasari AAP Karnataka Candidate

Mohan Dasari, a techie, who worked for multinational company in India, Europe and USA is also an Aam Aadmi Party candidate from CV Raman Nagar for the upcoming 2018 Karnataka assembly elections. After graduating from NIT Suratkal (bachelors degree) and BITS Pilani (Masters degree), Mohan started working in the Information & Technology Sector. According to him, it was only his education which made him successful. Most of his highschool friends couldn’t afford higher education and dropped out of school to start earning for day-to-day living. Seeing the stunted educational progress of his friends, Mohan had this idea to start helping poor kids.

Aarushi Foundation: After finishing his masters degree and getting a job, it was right time for Mohan whose father is a BSNL telephone mechanic to begun working on his idea from his high school days. With the help from his family and friends, Mohan Dasari started Aarushi Foundation to help bright students from class 6-8 in government schools. The foundation sponsored these students by admitting them in good private schools. It was Mohan’s plan to grow the organization in a way that students who benefit from the program will come back and support the organization. But as the return rate was quite low, so every year, Aarushi Foundation has to repeat the process with the same team.

What Mohan Noticed: Mohan has been visiting different villages in his area. Level of education in government school (this is why he started the Foundation) and condition of primary health centers is poor. Doctors are either missing or never appointed. Basic infrastructure and medicines are also missing. Patients have to visit taluka hospitals for small treatments like dengue, malaria, snake bites etc. Even after 70 years of independence, we are lacking basic facilities in health and education.

Idea of Joining Politics: While working with Aarushi Foundation, Mohan was also making the villagers aware about the importance of education. However, expensive private schools were not a permanent solution. On the contrary, it was to improve the state of government schools which was not possible with a single NGO. It needed the initiatives from government. With active participation in India Against Corruption and developments around the formation of Aam Aadmi Party motivated Mohan to fight the 2013 Karnataka assembly elections as an independent candidate. Mohan started his first campaign by educating voters about the importance of votes, right to education, importance of healthcare and infrastructure.  

Constituency: Issues like quality of roads, garbage collection, community toilets etc. are still a dream for CV Raman Nagar. Majority of residents in the area are educated and skilled workers. Other than lacking basic facilities in CV Raman Nagar, Kaveri water supply to each household is still incomplete. Some of the road projects are waiting their inauguration while others are delayed and partially complete. Railway bridge projects are also pending.

Opponent: CV Raman Nagar constituency is ruled by BJP for past 20 years and 2018 BJP opponent S Raghu is 2 times MLA from the constituency and 1 time from Shanti Nagar. Even after represented for 20 years by one party, CV Raman Nagar residents have faced the negligence from their elected representative. The issue is not only his low availability in his constituency, but S Raghu’s attendance is also poor in the assembly. With less than 50% attendance, if a MLA is not even attending assembly sessions, how can they get special projects/funds for his/her constituency. As described by Mohan, corporator turned politician S Raghu is also running a family business by appointing family members at key positions.

Campaign: Mohan and his team were first to start the election campaign in his constituency. With door-to-door campaign, more than 35,000 houses are covered and Mohan personally met CV Raman Nagar residents. Many people want to see alternative politics as a reality. Most of the residents knows about Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. This time people have a choice of selecting a good candidate than selecting any less evil candidate from BJP, Congress and JDS. Delhi education, healthcare (Mohalla Clinics), electricity, transportation and water reforms are also receiving very good response from residents.

Mohan Dasari campaigning in CV Raman Nagar with volunteers

Promises/Priority: Education and Healthcare are the first two priorities for Mohan. He is also determined to save lakes and public properties from illegal encroachment, implement a system to deal with water crisis, provide pipelined water to every household etc.

Appeal: We can have 100s of NGO for every cause then why do we need a government? It is the responsibility of each government to serve their people. If government doesn’t work, system collapses. This is what we are seeing in terms of corruption and underperforming politicians. It’s time to change the system by changing the governing people. Aam Aadmi Party is proving to be the biggest platform for newcomers and like minded people who want to change the system. With your support, we can do it. It is our fight.

Clean politics is possible with clean candidates and clean money. You can support pro-people governance by connecting with Mohan Dasari on twitter @MohanDaasari, Facebook on https://www.facebook.com/mohana.dasari  and donating online using http://bit.ly/Donate4AAP_CVRamanNagar 

Interview with Mohan Dasari