Kannadiga Dr Neeraj Patil to Contest UK Polls
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore, Mar 17: Even while poll fever in Karnataka hots up, thousands of miles across the seas a Kannadiga is slogging it out — preparing himself for the British parliamentary elections due in May 2009.
Dr Neeraj Patil, hailing from Kamlapur in Gulbarga district and now settled in the United Kingdom, has been picked by the British Labour Party to contest for a parliamentary seat from Surrey. He will be pitched against Conservative Party’s shadow-education minister Michal Gove.
Neeraj Patil with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown
The 40 year-old doctor, who is fond of quoting Basavanna vachanas, joins the ranks of Indians like Dadabhai Naoroji, Piara Khabra and Keith Vaz to contest a British parliamentary seat. Patil is councillor of Lambeth in London and consultant at the Kingston Hospital in south-east London.
Prior to facing the British electorate, Patil wants to do his bit for the Karnataka elections. He will come down whenever the elections are held here, to impart positive values of British democracy in the Indian set-up.
“When elections happen in Karnataka, I plan to get candidates of all major political parties in my hometown Kamlapur on a common platform. Let each of them speak for a few minutes on what their plans are for the constituency. I am trying to bring western democracy to the Indian set up,’’ Patil told STOI here.
Practising as a doctor since 1994, he has been serving in the Labour Party. Getting an MP ticket from his party, Patil said, is an exercise comparable to writing an examination. “A candidate should have been a member of the party for five years, with experience in campaigning and local self government, and with solid references from MPs. And still there are risks of the person getting rejected,’’ he added.
As Lambeth councillor, he was instrumental in improving civic and medical facilities, security, education, among other services.
Coming from a family of politicians, Patil has no hesitation in commenting on the quick money some politicians make in India. “Rich nations have poor politicians, while poor nations have rich politicians. The role of politicians is policy-making, but in India politicians interfere in admininstration,’’ he added.