Delhi citizens campaign for ‘people’s candidates, not party candidates’!

With the announcement of April 5 as the date for the Delhi Municipal Corporation elections, all the major political parties, such as the Congress, BJP and others are busy looking for candidates to put up for the elections. In the light of the huge attacks that have been taking place on the residents of Delhi in recent months -- demolition of slums and eviction of people from their homes, sealing of shops and small commercial establishments, etc., and the inability of both the Congress Party government in Delhi and the opposition BJP to defend the interests of the people, both these parties have become extremely unpopular in the eyes of the residents of Delhi. It has been reported that both these parties are have difficulty finding candidates ‘acceptable’ to the people.

Meanwhile, in several wards, residents are proposing to field candidates selected from amongst themselves, through the citizens’ committees in their respective areas. Rather than voting for the ‘least evil’ of the candidates put up by the big political parties, these residents are planning to come together and campaign for their own selected candidate, on an independent platform, with the full support of the community and without the use of money power and muscle power, as is normally rampant with the big party candidates.

One such initiative is that of the Jan Pratinidhi Manch -- a common platform of several political and social organizations, representing men and women from diverse strata of society. These include Sangharsh Samitis of several slum and resettlement colonies spread all over Delhi as well as Resident Welfare Associations of many middle-class colonies. These groups have come together with a common aim of intervening in the Delhi Municipal Corporation elections, by fielding candidates selected by the residents of each ward, from among themselves, through their area committees, as opposed to candidates selected by the established political parties.

The constituents of the Jan Pratinidhi Manch include Lok Raj Sangathan, Nagrik Shasan, Bharat Punarnirman Dal, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha, Rangbhoomi Natya Samooh, Sanjay Colony Niwasi Sangharsh Samiti, Transit Camp Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, J.J.Colony Madanpur Khadar Sangharsh Samiti and others.

At a Press Conference held on February 22, the representatives of the JPM explained that their aim is to bring the concerns of the people of Delhi to the centre-stage, by involving the residents themselves directly in governance, through their own selected political representative. This will be an important step in challenging the domination of the narrow partisan interests of the established political parties over the politics and lives of the people of Delhi. All candidates of the Jan Pratinidhi Manch will have to agree to abide by the standards set by the JPM. They have to render accounts to the residents and also take an oath that the candidate, if elected, will resign if the residents of the ward find his/ her work unsatisfactory. The election campaign of these candidates will be funded entirely by contributions from the residents themselves.

As reported in the last issue of PV, the Jan Pratinidhi Manch has already begun its campaign in many wards of Delhi where it will be fielding its candidates. The residents’ committees and sangharsh samitis in the local areas have an important role to play in the selection of the people’s candidates. It is through these committees that the residents will exercise their choice and also raise their common concerns to be taken up with the MCD and authorities in Delhi.

Residents of Dwarka, Masjid Moth, Defence Colony, IP Estate and several colonies have met to form the residents’ committees in their respective areas and are discussing the issue of selection of people’s candidates.

At a public meeting attended by more than 200 people in J.J.Colony Madanpur Khadar, on February 25, more than a hundred men, women and youth came forward to become members of their Sangharsh Samiti. The meeting had been called by the Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha (HNES), a youth organization that has been actively working to organise the youth of this colony for social change. Activists of Lok Raj Sangathan spoke to the residents about the significance of the Sangharsh Samiti as a forum in which all the residents will come together, irrespective of their community, region or political affiliation, with the common aim of taking forward the struggle for their rights and for a life of dignity. The Sangharsh Samiti will have to meet regularly, take decisions collectively and then work collectively to implement them, they explained. Members of the Jan Pratinidhi Manch spoke of the need to reject the candidates of the big political parties and select our own people’s candidates. Several residents, especially the youth spoke with great excitement of the prospect of building their own Sangharsh Samiti and putting up one of their own as a candidate for the MCD elections, because they are fed up of being fed on false promises by the politicians and want to take the initiative themselves. On this occasion, young activists of the Rangabhoomi Natya Samooh performed a play ‘Faisla aapke ke haath mein’, exposing the political process and calling for people’s representatives.