greetings everyone
I voted for milind deora at the last election - I was extremely
delighted when he won - I even wrote an article about the number of
young (under 35) MPs we now had and that finally - maybe - things
could move in the right direction
The disappointment, unfortunately, set in very early
Even before the Lok Sabha was seated, I was invited to dinner by Indu
(Shahani) at India Jones and, amongst other guests - mostly education
people from overseas - was Milind; we talked and I told him how great
it was that he had won - shortly after, a friend of his came over and
in the chit-chat asked him whether he was planning to go to so-and-sos
wedding in New York - Milind said, Of course - at that point, another
guest - also a parliamentarian (from AP as I recall) said, But
Parliament will be in its first session at that time
Milind said, thats OK - a few days wont make a difference
And this before he had even taken his seat
Well this certainly was a harbinger of things to come - Milinds
performance in Parliament, ranked by a non-partisan non-profit
organization (PRS or mumbaivotes), was 5/10. Milind himself is proud
of his 75% attendance record - better than the 72% average of all the
MPs (and the 64% record of Maharashtra MPs)
Well, all of you run businesses, right? - I ask you, would you give a
job to someone who claimed that they were marginally better than
average? Someone who is scored aty 50% by an independent observer? - I
dont think so, particularly not right now when people are so readily
available
to my mind, Milind may be young, but hes basically politics as usual -
his net worth, for example, by his own affidavit, grew by 300% over
the past 5 years; over the same period, the Sensex went up by 84% -
now, if you are an MP, I assume its a full time job - if you have a
full time job and the stock market rises by 84%, how can your net
worth rise by so much more? Unless, of course, you were busy on the
side - now I dont know details of his assets - Im simply reporting
what he has said when filing his nomination
And then, of course, there are the structural issues of party politics
- did anyone hear Milinds concern or upset when Raj Thackerays gang
was terrorizing north Indians? I wonder why? Could it be that it was
actually in Milinds interest that the MNS should gain some traction
since it would serve to split the Marathi-speaking vote from the Sena?
And if a few Biharis or bhaiyyas get hurt, oh well, thats how things
work, right?
And what about the Srikrishna commission? How come Milind never once
raised his voice about the need to implement that once the congress
party came to power
And since he is claiming credit for the Bandra Worli sealink, should
we debit him - or the congress party - for the over 300% cost overrun?
Again, are any of us sure that the Congress machine will not be
spending crores to buy votes for Milind? Are we comfortable with that?
Everybody does it is no excuse - and by the way, Meera doesnt do it
Nah, I cant vote for him again.
So, really - its not about Meera or Milind - its about a straight,
upright candidate versus politics as usual - I thought 26/11 had ALL
of us committed to change.
And make no mistake, Meera will bring about change. She will raise
relevant issues - she is the first one to have pointed out that Mumbai
contributes 95,000 cr in tax revenues and gets a measly 3% or so back
(thank you Milind) - and keep pushing. My daughter (who works in a
bank) told me that someone who joined her bank from ABN, said Meera is
really tough to work with. I say, thats good - we need someone tough
working for us. Importantly, in todays fractured Lok Sabha, her voice
will be even louder and her independent vote that much more valuable.
As some of you have said, her victory will send a signal to the
political parties that they have to clean up their act or go fishing.
And, importantly, it will encourage hundreds or thousands of Meeras to
stand for Assembly and municipal elections all over the country, and,
of course, the next Lok Sabha.
Most important of all, it will begin the change that it going to happen.
Be part of it. Join the 250,000 (and counting) of us who will be
voting for Meera
Jamal Mecklai
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It is a tribute to the hunger for change in India that in the space of
three weeks (four, by the time this is published), Meera Sanyal has
gone from being a low-profile, well-considered senior banker to
something of a rock star, judging from the way she is mobbed
everywhere she goes. Young people of all stripes, of course, uptown
bankers and educationists at the Rotary, a group of handicapped
citizens, groups of businessmen and brokers, religious leaders, large
numbers of senior citizens, even people living in slums, and, of
course, just people on the streets of South Mumbai – everybody wants
to meet Meera. Everybody is curious about her, everybody wants to know
why she believes she will win and, of course, what she will do after
she does.
On the other side, there are a few terminally-middle-aged souls, who
refuse to take their heads out of the sands and see that India today
is no longer willing to put up with “the lesser of two evils” or vote
based on the politics of fear, a la George Bush. Of course, their
numbers are small and declining – it is 2009, and India is a young,
forward-looking nation, even if its politics-to-date is not.
Anyway, here’s how I see it. Each and every one of the 16 lakh voters
in the newly delimited South Mumbai constituency, just like each and
every one of nearly 1.2 billion Indians, knows that
(a) the reason we have been unable to rise to our true potential is
that the governance of our country has been hijacked by corrupt and
venal political parties, who’s only agenda is to ensure their gaddi;
sure there are good people in politics, but their effectiveness is
constrained or compromised (by having to do party business – read,
raise funds for the party);
(b) all major political parties are equally guilty;
(c) it is time for change – 26/11 determined that.
Now, as we all know, things change only when it is time. Look at your
own life: there are doubtless things that you have wanted for a long
time that one day suddenly happen – because its finally the right
time. Barrack Obama won the US presidency not simply because he is a
great man – he won because it was time for the US to change.
And without question it is time for India to change. After 26/11,
there were a huge number of citizens’ groups formed – in most cases,
of young (18 to 35) people – all of which were determined to (in the
name of one of them) “be the change.” And, make no mistake, most of
these groups are still around, still active, still working – and
they’re not going to stop.
Meera, to my mind, is part of this wave of change. And she is not
alone – Mallika Sarabhai (even more courageous, in Meera’s view),
Captain Gopinath and several other lesser known names have jumped into
the fray as independents from different parts of the country. Not all
of them will win, but all of them have already sent a message to the
politicians: SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT.
We see this very clearly in our constituency, where one set of
powers-that-be is reduced to bleating about “the lesser of two evils”,
“the civilized vote” and so on. The other set of powers-that-be is
just too parochial for 2009. The Marathi manoos is no fool – she, too,
can see that politics as usual leads nowhere. Protecting dead end
government jobs does not even begin to address the aspirations of
Mumbaikars. They need – we need – the ability to attract investment to
create tens – no, hundreds – of thousands of much better paying, much
more satisfying jobs in Mumbai.
Meera, as a banker, has already done that in a small way – she has
created 6,000 jobs, 2,500 of which are in Lower Parel. Mind you, this
was without a mandate for job creation – imagine what she will be able
to do with a definitive mandate to improve the lives of Mumbaikars.
Everybody knows that change is needed, and, indeed, that it is
inevitable. And by far the best possibility for real change is Meera.
Mumbai chi Meera.
And, after the election – look out!
Meera is not shy and she will make sure that her views – our views –
are clearly and vociferously heard in the Lok Sabha. And the good news
is that given the completely fractured coalition government that is
likely, her independent vote will be considerably more valuable than
if there were a majority government in power. Thus, she – and
like-minded MPs – will have disproportionate influence over the
Parliament, certainly relative to any party-based MP, who would have
to toe the party line and bend before the party whip.
Most important of all, however, is the impact Meera’s election will
have on the future of India. At every subsequent election, starting
with the Assembly elections later this year and continuing from here
on out, we will see more and more Meera’s – you and me, perhaps –
stepping up to the plate to accelerate India’s progress into the 21st
century.
And it all begins with MUMBAI CHI MEERA!
C’mon, sign on to www.meerahsanyal.in, volunteer your time and join
the celebration of the new India.
Jamal Mecklai
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Over the last few months after the 26/11 attack on Mumbai a group of
friends got together to discuss the fallout and how we as individuals
can start making a difference. The group of 10 friends back then met
multiple times to discuss avenues of bringing about change in every
aspect of our lives as the same has deteriorated over the last couple
of decades. Today that group has swelled to over 500 members on FB and
a fast growing Mobile community.
Accountability has vanished from the Government dictionaries and it is
all about how to garner the maximum amount of wealth for each
minister. While that may be the norm, one expects that most of the
taxes we pay actually get implemented in schemes which will help the
country whilst a small fraction permeates out. But the reverse seems
to be happening and it is amply seen in the woeful infrastructure this
country has be it for roads / rail / water / power!
After discussing many areas, the group set up a NGO called Empowered
Mumbai whose vision statement is:
Empowered Mumbai is dedicated to raising awareness amongst citizens of
India, mobilizing the collective energy of the people and channelizing
them to effect sustainable reforms in political, administrative and
other governance systems and processes in the country.
I would thus like all of you who wish to bring about CHANGE in our
country to ensure that if not in our generation but atleast for our
kids and there after we help to clean up the system and bring about
accountability to join our cause. I am sure at some point of time each
one of you has felt disgusted with some aspect of the Government
apathy but always reconciled to accept it by saying what can I do.
Well now there is a movement to help address that. We do not promise
miracles in the short term but we will definitely push for actions.
Today, Empowered Mumbai has now extended to Empowered Bengaluru also
and soon we hope to have Empowered Pune set up. Our eventual goal is
that we set up these in all states of India and help achieve not only
the goals at local level but also at the national level.
In view of the above we request you to join our movement either (or
both) through the following means:
• Sms JOIN EM to 567678 (SMS charges apply)
• Join our Face book Group called Empowered Mumbai.
Some of the efforts done by this group over the last few months:
• A comprehensive Vision document for Mumbai has been drafted. This
can be viewed at http://www.meerahsanyal.in/?page_id=227. This is an
open source document and thus provided to an independent candidate
from South Mumbai Meera Sanyal who is standing for elections for the
current Lok Sabha elections. Modestly it is surprisingly to see that
even the Congress and Shiv Sena have now started reacting and
addressing issues raised in this master plan (by Ms Sanyal) as NEITHER
have a document as comprehensive as this.
Even our Hon. Prime Minister on his trip to Mumbai this last week
mentioned many a point from this master plan:
o “We will build Mumbai into a truly global city”
o "Our government has launched the Urban Renewable Mission with a
special focus on improving the quality of life of those who live in
slums."
o "We want to build world-class infrastructure to make Mumbai a truly
world-class city."
o “The government has invested in creating world-class public
transport in Mumbai”
• We have organized an event on April 24th , 2009 at St Xaviers
College Mumbai called THE SOUND OF DEMOCRACY (in collaboration with
AGNI and St Xaviers College) wherein we wish to engage the youth to
meet their candidates and vote based on an informed decision. Thus we
have organized for one college band and Taufeeq Qureshi to perform at
the venue followed by an open debate moderated by Kumar Ketkar of
Mumbai Lok Sabha aspirants. These will be asked to give their views on
various aspects that affect the city and how they would commit
themselves over the next 5 years.
We hope to have you join in this campaign and spread it across all
your friends and family as we strongly believe CHANGE IS IN OUR HANDS.
Empowered Mumbai
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Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times
April 11, 2009
First Published: 00:20 IST(11/4/2009)
Last Updated: 00:24 IST(11/4/2009)
Why Milind Deora isn’t smiling
In many ways, South Mumbai is one of India’s most unusual
constituencies. And it is also a microcosm of the city of Mumbai
itself.
It is home to the gleaming towers of Nariman Point and the socialites
of Malabar Hill. But its constituents include a hefty chunk of the
city’s Muslims, a significant proportion of market-friendly Gujaratis
and many of the slum-dwellers who often swing elections in the city.
Now, South Mumbai has added a further dimension to its already
eclectic nature. A redrawing of constituency boundaries has meant that
the old Mumbai South Central constituency has been merged with South
Mumbai. This constituency takes in the dockyards, the old mill areas
and its voters include industrial workers.
Traditionally, battles in South Mumbai revolve around a fight between
members of the Deora family and assorted Gujaratis. In 1980, Murli
Deora lost the seat to Ratansinh Rajda, a Gujarati. He won it in 1984
and represented it for several years, till he lost to the BJP’s
Jayawantiben Mehta, a Gujarati. In the last election, he handed the
seat over to his son Milind who went on to become the city’s most
effective and visible MP.
This time around, the BJP has ceded the seat to its ally, the Shiv
Sena, dashing hopes of such aspirants as Poonam Mahajan, daughter of
Pramod Mahajan, and fashion designer Shaina NC. The Shiv Sena
candidate, Mohan Rawle is the sort of Sainik that Gujaratis, the
Malabar Hill elite and the city’s Muslims abhor and fear.
So why isn’t Milind Deora smiling?
Well, because things are never simple or easy in Mumbai. Rawle may be
the archetypal Shiv Sainik (he was once Bal Thackeray’s bodyguard) but
he is also the sitting MP for the now defunct South Central
constituency, which he has represented for several terms. And he
believes that the chawl-dwellers and industrial workers who have now
become part of the South Mumbai constituency will back him and defeat
Deora.
It’s not that straightforward, of course. Rawle has a curious
reputation even within the Sena: he once disappeared when he was
supposed to vote in a no confidence motion against the central
government and then claimed that he had been unwell, so his standing
in his own party is a matter of speculation. Moreover, he has close
links with don-turned-politician Arun Gawli who Bal Thackeray hates. A
further complication: this time Gawli has abandoned Rawle and is
backing Deora.
And after the attacks on North Indians in Mumbai, say Rawle’s campaign
managers, the South Indians in the old South Central areas have grown
increasingly hostile to the Sena. “They have come for the bhaiyyas
today”, they say. “They will come for the Annas tomorrow”.
Oddly enough, it is South Mumbai that worries the Deora campaign.
Milind will get the traditional Congress voters (the poor, those in
the slums etc.) and he will even get the Gujaratis, but there are
questions about where the rest of his support will come from.
Murli Deora once lost to the BJP because Amar Singh in an obvious
effort to spite him put up a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate. The SP
man fared badly everywhere except in the Muslim areas where he took
away votes that would otherwise have gone to Deora. Now, the SP is
threatening to do the same to Milind.
There is another electoral suicide bomber in the race as well.
Mohammed Ali Sheikh, a local Muslim notable with a colourful police
record, is standing on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket even though
he has no hope of winning. He, too, will take away Congress votes.
And finally, there is the socialite factor. Two independents from
affluent backgrounds are also contesting. They may well lose their
deposits but equally, they might take a chunk of the Malabar Hill
votes. One of the these independents, a banker called Meera Sanyal has
become the darling of the TV channels and her supporters may vote for
her anyway, despite the fact that in doing so they will probably help
the Shiv Sena. A vote for Meera Sanyal is a vote for Mohan Rawle, say
Deora’s campaign managers.
Both Deoras seem uncharacteristically concerned about the outcome of
this election. The younger Deora who has been an exemplary
constituency MP and has a high national profile had expected to fight
on the basis of his record — and win.
But he is discovering now that nothing goes according to plan in
politics. And certainly not in Mumbai where you have to deal with the
underworld, Bal Thackeray’s bodyguards, block Muslim votes and the
aspirations of publicity-hungry socialites.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=ab82b9d8-2633-4ab1-9713-30e5dde5c9ed
© Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times
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It doesn't help to be a Lone Ranger
12 Apr 2009, 0039 hrs IST, SWAPAN DASGUPTA
If editorial approval, Facebook encouragement and celebrity
endorsements can shape an election, Independent candidate Meera Sanyal
will be the clear winner in battle for Mumbai South. Needless to say,
the possibility of such an outcome is about as high as Sonia Gandhi
making an extempore speech. The best that Sanyal, the "daughter of
Mumbai South" who (in the spirited prose of Shobhaa De) has deigned
"to get her hands dirty", can hope is to save her security deposit.
The same is true for Mallika Sarabhai who is taking on L K Advani in
Gandhinagar on the strength of her illustrious surname and local
roots.
Mumbai has a tradition of being generous to Independents. In 1971,
Naval Tata lost Bombay South by just 20,000 votes. He even outpolled
George Fernandes. V K Krishna Menon lost by just 13,000 votes in 1967
in neighbour Bombay North-West. In 1971, the redoubtable former army
chief General K M Cariappa polled 90,000 votes in that seat. On its
part, Ahmedabad elected Independents such as G V Mavlankar and Indulal
Yagnik on four occasions.
It is unlikely that history will shape the results on May 16. Neither
Sanyal nor Sarabhai is fighting to win. Sanyal is in the game to stand
up and be counted and, in the process, serve as a role model for
People Like Us. Sarabhai's objectives seem more modest. She loves
needling Narendra Modi and securing brownie points from the radical
chic community. Sarabhai has sought to paint Advani as an outsider
which, had it not been for her aesthetics, would have seemed
suspiciously reminiscent of Raj Thackeray.
Although both candidates profess to speak for exasperated citizens,
eliciting mass support, it would seem, is not on their agenda. Sanyal
and Sarabhai have made a virtue of their fringe status and tacitly
acknowledged that ordinary voters will shun them. Parties, writes
Sarabhai piously on her website, "uphold the logic of numbers and not
the logic of people." Sanyal isn't so disdainful but even a
perfunctory glance at her campaign team tells a story of professional
achievement and social exclusivity. Sarabhai, on the other hand, is
consciously averse to the corporate and MNC types. Her campaign is
made up of NGOs and activists who have made a virtue of being
jarringly out of tune with the impulses of mainstream Gujarati
society.
Both campaigns are fanatical in their desire to occupy the moral high
ground. It is, however, curious that their competitive
sanctimoniousness is inversely related to public support. It is a
pointer to the mind-blowing condescension with which these beautiful
people view their less socially adept co-citizens. They are in effect
snobs in an arena where snobbery is at a serious discount. Exclusivity
may be a worthwhile criterion for social networking but it is somewhat
inappropriate for democratic politics. In the world of universal adult
franchise, life is all about aggregation and finding negotiated
solutions to complex problems. Political parties are an important
forum - but by no means the only agency - through which communities
find a voice and through which the distribution of scarce resources
are managed, however imperfectly. That is why they retain relevance
and why aspirants for public office can't do without them. A
Parliament of free thinkers is a good idea on paper; in practice it is
even less coherent than the Third Front.
Yet, there is an important lesson to be learnt from the romance of
well-meaning people dissipating their energies in pursuit of an
uncontaminated political culture. First, over the years, political
parties have lost the ability to attract the idealists and the
talented in sufficient numbers. Instead of grooming decent people into
leadership roles, the parties have fallen back on resourceful fixers
and criminals who take refuge behind community sanction. The
consequences are thoroughly unwholesome. Secondly, caught up by the
challenges of social engineering and empowerment, parties have
bypassed a new breed of middle class Indians who are detached from
traditional vote banks. This lapse has prompted the "secession of the
successful" from politics.
It is heartening that both national parties are beginning to
acknowledge the problem. Rahul Gandhi's bid to change Congress culture
may be clumsy and often laughable but at least he has recognised that
politics could do with a different blood group. Likewise, the outreach
Friends of BJP initiative has the potential of injecting some
contemporary thought into the parent body.
Maybe, in hindsight, both Sanyal and Sarabhai can take some credit for
doing their bit to highlight the shortcomings of our democracy. But
their election experience will also show that "good" people can't play
Lone Ranger. To make a difference they need responsive political
parties.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4390296,prtpage-1.cms
