Presently the whole nation is in an election mode. All the national political parties as also the regional parties are geared up for the big event of our democracy.

Some of the political parties are already into the exercise of selecting candidates. The BJP has so far announced the list of nine candidates out of 28, for contesting the Parliamentary elections from the State. Among them is, Mr. C. H. Vijayashankar, the incumbent MP from Mysore general constituency, which now includes Kodagu also after delimitation of Constituencies.

The party could not have made a better choice, rather a winning choice, in re - nominating Vijayashankar as its candidate, without giving room for uncertainty which often affects the contesting candidate’s chances.

For Vijayashankar, this is going to be the fourth contest. Earlier he had won twice, once in 1998 and again in 2004. However, he had lost in the mid - term elections for the Lok Sabha held in 1999. Therefore, winning this time should not be a very difficult task for such an experienced person and also for one, who has very closely identified himself with the ordinary, whose number is legion and who form the bulk of the voters. I know Vijayashankar ever since he became an MP. Earlier to that he was elected as an MLA in 1994 from the Hunsur constituency which made big news because till then Hunsur was considered a bastion of Congress and Janata Dal.

Vijayashankar is known to be a person who moves and mingles with the common man, on a day – to - day basis. If there is work, he will walk the distance rather than wait for the people to wait at his gate. This had happened when people voted other candidates from the constituency.

Of course, people's memory is short and their preference can be influenced or vitiated by smart political operators by means fair or foul. However, this time no matter who the opposition candidate is, Vijayashankar of BJP seems to be all poised for a win. Of course, his caste (Kuruba) will definitely help. More than the caste factor, it is his service factor, which is going to influence the voters in his favour.

He is one MP I know, who is, like a good medical doctor, always on call and responds to such calls. I myself had such a surprise response from Vijayashankar on a couple of occasions. When he was merely requested to speak to the concerned Engineer who was not amenable to reason and the complainant was in danger of losing part of his house for the construction of the Ring Road, Vijayashankar insisted on his inspecting the house and the road himself. As a result, the poor man’s humble shelter was saved and the Ring Road also was constructed as originally aligned. The mischief was of the Engineer and, of course, we know why.

He was also quite understanding when it came to demands made on the MPLAD funds (MP's Local Area Development Fund) and as I know, he has been distributing that fund fairly and equitably.

As an MP, he was on so many committees and one of the committees was the Commerce and Industry Committee. Here he had taken initiative to get a number of attractive schemes for farmers as also industrialists. Realising there is a good market for sandalwood oil, Vijayashankar tried his best to encourage manufacturing of sandalwood oil in Karnataka, where sandalwood is available aplenty.

As a member of Sericulture Board, he did his bit when he discovered that beforelong, tobacco will have problem with the world market which might harm our farmers growing tobacco. He encouraged them to go for cultivation of silk as an alternative. If we find farmers taking to silk cultivation in Hunsur, K. R. Nagar and even Periyapatna, it is because of his initiative backed by the State and Central Governments. In some tobacco growing areas like Periyapatna, he has suggested cultivation of ginger, while in H. D. Kote, it is cotton.

His abiding concern for the construction of double track railway line between Mysore and Bangalore is known to all. Though there were many tactical and logistic problems, he took initiative to resolve all of them, including the one related to the budget. There was a problem of land for double tracking near Srirangapatna because of the Tipu Memorial, a heritage structure, coming in the way. With his initiative the problem was resolved and the Railways have now commenced the work. His role in getting the long jinxed Airport work going despite many hurdles is indeed a mirror to his sense of responsibility as a people's representative.

I do not know how many questions he has asked in the Parliament during his tenure and on how many issues he has spoken. Well if he hasn’t, it should not matter really because there are others in his party who are capable of speaking on issues relating to the country. Anyway, from the record I know that his predecessors in the past did not fair any better either.

Vijayashankar is indeed a people's MP and will remain a people's man committed to serving the common man and the common cause. A politician indeed for all reasons and seasons who will put everyone at ease with his pleasing smile despite his tall personality. If there has been an MP as easily accessible as Vijayashankar from this Constituency, it is he. All the earlier ones had a WALL [if not a fort] around them. With Vijayashankar if you can't access him on phone you can at least access his PA. At a fairly young age of 52, for an Indian politician he still has many years to serve the people and the country.

Courtesy: Star of Mysore

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