BENGALURU: A visually challenged lift operator and a mestri (construction works supervisor), who doubles as a social worker, have taken the plunge in Pulakeshinagar assembly constituency and are taking on former MLA and Congress candidate R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy..While social worker D Jayaram, 64, who is a skilled construction worker, is contesting an election for the 18th time, Gunalan M, 46, who has been working as a lift operator for four years at Manyata Tech Park, is in the thick of a poll battle for the first time. Gunalan, an independent, and Jayaram of the Delhi-based Gareeb Aadmi Party are waiting for the Election Commission to allot symbols to them...Gunalan said his decision to contest the assembly polls is a result of his interest in working for the downtrodden and the physically challenged. “No political leader is bothered about the poor. I have first-hand experience of poverty. I also know how difficult it is to live with a disability in the face of too many odds. If elected, I will contribute my best for the development of the poor and the physically challenged,” said Gunalan. His wife works as a housekeeping staffer and his kids study in a government school...Like Gunalan, Jayaram, a resident of Ashoknagar, near Kaval Byrasandra, too is driven by the desire to work for the welfare of the poor. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Jayaram had polled 3,784 votes. Jayaram works as a supervisor at a construction site. “I am a social worker and do my best to help people around me,”he said.. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/visually-challenged-liftman-social-worker-take-the-poll-plunge/articleshow/63890689.cms
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