On 22 March, more than 150 workers of Mumbai , mainly consisting of garment workers, came together and endorsed the candidature of one of their fellow workers, who is also one of their most militant activists.  In earlier meetings held in Worli on International Women’s Day, Purogami Mahila Sangathan and more than 100 women and men of Worli had also pledged their support to Com Shinge.

People in general are fed up with the dirty political games and maneuvers of the netas of the big political parties. It is quite common to hear that “politics is really very dirty and we will be better off to remain away from it.” But at the same time many people across the country are instead deciding to participate even more vigorously in the electoral process to fight for a new kind of politics. Many people and their organizations are putting up people’s candidates who will fight for a People’s Agenda in the coming elections.

At the meeting on 22 March, members of Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh declared that they would popularize the People’s Agenda amongst the electorate of Mumbai South constituency. The main features of this program would be

• The candidate would be fully accountable for all his actions during and after the elections if elected, to his constituency committee
• Giving primacy to the well being of all the working people of our country. Anti-people and anti-worker measures like privatization, contractualization, cutting back on measures for people’s welfare, etc., would have to be reversed
• Putting forward openly that the interests of working people and big capitalists cannot be satisfied simultaneously. Hence the interests of big capitalists will have to be curtailed as necessary to ensure that the needs of the working people are satisfied
• The demand for an end to attacks on any section of people on the basis of religion, race, caste, language, region etc, and for exemplary punishment to those guilty of organizing and perpetrating communal massacres.

Many others present, like the very experienced Com Deshmukh of the CPI, Com Malan Sonawne, leader of the Molkarin Union, Com Chandorkar, leader of BSNL employees union and the leader of the CPWD employees union, also hailed this initiative and assured their active support. Immediately after the formal meeting was over, workers got busy chalking out the action plan for the campaign.