With Delhi poised for elections to the Municipal Corporation on April 5, residents in several wards across the city are turning out in large numbers to set up their ward committees and select their own ‘people’s candidates’, to put for the MCD elections, as opposed to the candidates nominated by the big political parties of the establishment.

Candidate election in Khadar Vistar

Candidate election in Sanjay Colony

Candidate election in Transit Camp

The Jan Pratinidhi Manch (JPM), consisting of Lok Raj Sangathan and several other people’s organizations, sangharsh samitis of slums and resettlement colonies and residents’ welfare associations of several colonies, has launched a city-wide campaign for the selection of candidates for the MCD elections 2007, by the residents themselves, from among themselves. This is aimed at challenging the imposition of the narrow, self-serving agenda of the political parties of the establishment on the lives of the residents of Delhi and bringing the concerns of the residents as well as their proposed solutions to the forefront.

In each ward, the candidates being nominated by the residents, on the platform of JPM for the MCD elections 2007, are required to abide by certain standards set by the JPM and to take a solemn oath that if the candidate, on being elected, does not function in compliance with the wishes of the ward committee, then he/she will agree to step down from the post. According to the conditions of the JPM, the ward committee is to have the authority to decide what kinds of solutions are required for the problems of the residents of the ward and how the funds for development of the ward will be utilized.

Selection of people’s candidates by the residents organized in their respective ward committees has already taken place in several wards, such as in Transit Camp in Govindpuri, in J.J.Colony in Madanpur Khadar, in Sanjay Colony in Harkesh Nagar and others. In each case, this has been done in a well-publicised public meeting of the ward committee, attended by hundreds of residents. The norms of selection and the conditions on the candidate were first explained, following which all those residents of the ward who wish to propose themselves for candidature were invited to come forward. Each of the proposed candidates was asked to read out the standards for selection and take the oath before the residents and publicly declare their agreement with these. After this, the residents in the meeting came forward, in an organized manner, to cast their vote in favour of any one candidate of their choice. The counting of votes has been done in full view of all the residents, by activists of the JPM who are not residents of that particular ward, and the candidate securing the highest number of votes has been declared the people’s candidate from that ward. In each case, the candidate securing the next highest number of votes has been nominated to lead the campaign for the people’s candidate, while all the proposed candidates have enthusiastically agreed to work for the victory of the people’s candidate in the elections.

Similar processes of selection of people’s candidates are being planned in different areas and wards, such as in Masjid Moth, Defence Colony, I.P. Estate, Jahangirpuri, Dwarka, Tekhand, etc.

Residents are participating enthusiastically in the entire process. Such a process of people’s direct involvement in the political process had never been witnessed before, and all the residents are filled a sense of excitement as well as great responsibility as they proceed to plan for the election campaign of their own people’s candidate.