Ashok-Alexander Sridharan is a German politician of Indian and German ancestry who served as Mayor of Bonn from 2015 until 2020. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). He was the first mayor of Bonn to be of immigrant background.

Early life and education

Sridharan was born in Bonn on June 15, 1965 to a diplomat from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, who moved to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

in the 1950s, and a mother from Bonn. He spent his childhood and university years in Bonn, which he used to brand himself as a "Bonn lad" during his campaign. He studied at the

Aloisiuskolleg The Aloisiuskolleg is a co-educational, Jesuit (Catholic), University-preparatory school in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany, which includes boarders. It is named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Highly ranked academically, it is considered one of the mos ...

, a private and

Catholic high school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

in Bonn, before studying law at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

. In an interview with

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service cons ...

, Sridharen stated that his

n roots weren't relevant to his campaign. He also stated, "I think ndian interestscould even contribute efforts to make Bonn better-known internationally than it already is and that would do us good. We have many international companies and organizations here and I feel we have to strengthen that". Due to his ancestry, Sridharan has noted that there has been negative attention towards him through

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

comments.

Political career

Sridharan won the mayoral elections for the city of Bonn on September 13, 2015 to succeed Social Democratic Party (SPD)'s Jürgen Nimptsch. In the polls, he defeated his opponent Peter Ruhenstroth-Bauer from the SPD, by polling just over 50% of the votes, while Ruhenstroth-Bauer polled 24% of the votes, in an election that saw a 45% turnout. He assumed office on October 21, 2015 On September 27, 2020, Sridharan lost the mayoral runoff election to the

green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

challenger

Katja Dörner Katja Dörner (born 18 February 1976) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as mayor of Bonn since 2020. From 2009 until 2020, she was a member of the Bundestag. Education and early career Dörner studied po ...

. In a

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

that saw an overall turnout of 49%, Dörner polled 56% of the votes, while Sridharan polled 44% of the votes. In the first round polls that had concluded on September 13, 2020, Sridharan polled highest with 34% votes, but this was not sufficient to claim an absolute majority and had forced the runoff. Dörner had polled 28% in the first round. Earlier, having expressed his intent to run for second term, he was nominated by the CDU in November 2019. Dörner took office as new mayor on November 1, 2020.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Stadtwerke Bonn Verkehrs-GmbH (SWBV), Member of the Supervisory Board (2015-2020)

Non-profit organizations

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in San ...

, Member * Development and Peace Foundation (SEF), Member of the Board of Trustees * Internationaler Demokratiepreis Bonn, Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees
Internationaler Demokratiepreis Bonn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sridharan, Ashok-Alexander 1965 births German politicians Living people German people of Indian descent