UK: Indian origin mayor says politics without power is a waste

Neeraj Patel is the first Kannadiga to become a mayor in the UK. He is a doctor who was born in a politically active family and bred in a small town."Winning an election is like winning a war. And every thing is fair in this love and war. Politics is war without bloodshed and politics without power is a waste of time." , said he, reports Daily News And Analysis.

Read the whole article here.

Dr Neeraj Patil has a first to his credit — he’s the first Kannadiga to become a mayor in the UK. On his first visit to Bangalore after the “historic” victory, the first citizen of the London borough of Lambeth made time to share his view on politics, at a felicitation ceremony on Saturday.

“Politics had always been a passion, but I never had the courage to jump in. The secret to my success is that I have always been true to myself,” he told a roomful of students, politicians, bureaucrats, teachers and fellow Kannadigas who had come to meet the “man who had made them proud in a country that had ruled India for centuries”.

The doctor who was born in a politically active family and bred in a small town — Kalamalapur — in Gulbarga moved to the UK in 1994. He was elected councillor of Lambeth before he was chosen mayor in May this year.

“Winning an election is like winning a war. And every thing is fair in this love and war. Politics is war without bloodshed and politics without power is a waste of time. Politics is a bloodsport. Politics is not about appeasement, it is about making the right decisions for the benefit of the people,” he said at an event organised by Amruta Institute of Engineering and Management Sciences that was attended by mayor SK Nataraj, minister R Ashok, managing trustee of Adamya Chetana Tejaswini Ananthkumar, environmentalist AN Yellappa Reddy and others.

Peppering his speech with Sanskrit sayings and quoting well-known Kannada poets, Dr Patil said that the secret to his success in the elections is “concentrating on the campaign, working and studying hard and his Indian accent that people in his constituency just love”.

Commenting on Indian democracy, he said three aspects need to be looked into – recruitment, funding and electoral reform. What does he have to say about the political drama being played out in the state and the common citizens staying away from politics? “Politics is seen as a joke everywhere. Even in the UK, 100 MPs were accused of misusing taxpayers’ money. Citizens have to make sure they choose the right candidate. As for the common man, he is equally responsible for the political situation because he too is selling his vote.”