South Mumbai Municipal Corporation - Corporator Elections

A NOTE BEFORE YOU VOTE


CAPTAIN VIJAY SHIVDASANI

captainvijayshivdasani@gmail.com; +91-9833622312

The main reason people do not vote and that there is so much cynicism is because many parties are tainted by rampant corruption, numerous scams and poor performance in governance. You and numerous other thinking voters like you do not find a credible educated candidate of calibre because such people shun politics. For these reasons I have decided to offer myself as an Independent Citizen Candidate – to do the best for Mumbai where I live, for South Colaba where I was born and for Navy Nagar where I spent many years in uniform.

I am a family man, groomed at one of the best schools – Cathedral School, Mumbai, and am alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla. I successfully completed an advanced navy post graduate study at the Royal Military College of Science, UK.

As a serviceman, dedication to my country and men is paramount. The motto, Service Before Self, was deeply ingrained at an early age. It has been uppermost in peace and war. I have had the responsibility to sail and command numerous warships, been the Commander of an operational aircraft carrier, the Operations officer in the 1971 war and Head of the Alma Mater – the Navy’s Signals Establishment, Kochi, where thousands of personnel are trained each year.

Working recently in Mumbai, as head of an NGO, Founder of a Charitable Trust, an active member of the Nariman Point Association and A Ward Federation, I sincerely believe I have the experience, knowledge and educational background to improve the standard of living and lower your taxes by better governance decisions and without corruption.

After retiring from the navy I lived and worked in Hong Kong. It is a modern efficient island city where despite limitations of space, every civic system works – ferries, roads, mass transportation and traffic, drainage, hygiene and healthcare services, municipal education, sanitation and water supply, the rule of law and police, clean green open spaces with low levels of pollution – all these are of a world class standard. This is what I would strive for in Mumbai. This is my Mission.

I am often asked what an independent citizen candidate can achieve. As the saying goes – never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world – indeed it is the only thing that ever has!
So do cast your valuable vote for Corporator for


Vijay Shivdasani - a Captain and Gentleman

Mumbai Marathon 2012 .... running for North East India

Our tee shirts for the Mumbai Marathon 2012 .... running for North East India - East West Interconnect Foundation - http://www.eastwestinterconnect.org.in

26/11 ... remembering our friends .... and moving forward ....

Remembering Ajit, Monica, Sunil, Reshma, Rohinton, Sanjay, Rita, Neeti, Uday, Samar, Pankaj, Anand, Mrs. Randhawa, Vishnu, Neelam, Gunjan and all the others - RIP

What should we do, going forward ......

1. Take good care of the 10x10 = 100 sq ft around each one of us.
2. Facilitate the progress of good leaders at every level because good leaders may not necessarily be politically savvy or inclined.
3. Let policy development result from a bottom up approach - focus more on good management practices - particularly at a macro level.
4. Don't vote and then sit back. Be proactive and make development a public agenda.
5. Hope for the best, pray hard and respect & care for human/animal/plant/environment capital that we have.

Municipal Elections in Mumbai

--- On Thu, 3/3/11, Deepak Tralshawala dtralshawala (at) yahoo (dot) com wrote:

8th November 2011.

Hi Friends,



Please spread the word.

I wrote this piece on March 11, 2011. 8 months down the line this is even more relevant. I am forwarding it again, with a few modifications.

Is Bombay beyond redemption? Looking at the number of PILs filed against the BMC in the Bombay High Court it would certainly seem so. Potholes, dirty drinking water, illegal constructions, indiscriminate digging up of roads, mangrove hacking, traffic nightmares – you name it, the Bombay High Court is seized of the matter.

What is going wrong in the BMC?

We know the answers. No, let us not use polite terms. It’s high time we called a spade a spade. Pure and simple, Bombay has buckled under its own weight of greed, pelf, sloth and corruption. We are governed by people who would not get employed as daily-wage workers in the BMC. In perfect co-ordination and unity of purpose our elected representatives from the Congress, BJP-SS, MNS etc, and the BMC officials have collectively brutalised, raped and destroyed the city. Take a look at the performance of our beloved glorious municipal councillors as on March 2011 in just “A” Ward:

Name Attendance QuestionsAsked Money Spent

Geeta Kanojia 132/175 8 Rs. 98,92,171/-

Vijaya Dhulla 147/208 2 Rs. 95,80,775/-

Vinod Shekhar 192/273 111 Rs. 91,27,221/-

PremaSingh 171/186 0 Rs. 1,00,46,153/-

Only Vinod Shekhar out of the above is a graduate, has asked the most questions, and spent the least (on what, is another issue). The others have barely scraped through SSC. Take a look at the money spent by them on civic amenities, education and health – and ask yourselves “WHERE HAS THIS MONEY GONE?" Your first guess will be the right answer. These figures have been taken from praja.org. Visit this site. It will be a revelation. The story is similar in other Wards as well.

So, why am I sharing these stats with you?

Simple. It’s time we took matters in our hands. Enough is really enough. The civic polls are round the corner, around February 2012. We must identify a few persons in our localities who are concerned about the all-pervading rot, persuade them to stand as candidates, back them, and spread the word. Fortunately, we now have - thanks to the Anna Movement - some Independents, and organisations like Lok Satta Party (LSP) and Mumbai 227 who are fielding educated and committed citizens with terrific background. Please back them.

DO NOT VOTE FOR THE Congress, BJP, SS, MNS, etc. They possess not an iota of Integrity, and are Intellectually and Morally utterly bankrupt.

Once upon a time not very long ago our city guardians were those venerable Parsi gentlemen whose statues adorn the Flora Fountain, Metro and Gowalia Tank areas. They made Bombay what it was by showing the way. We too can, and we must. It is time.

If this mail makes sense please forward it to your friends, with a request to forward it in turn to theirs. This is a first in a small series of messages. It doesn't matter if you do not reside in Mumbai. Please do forward it to your friends who may be Mumbai-ites



Incidentally, there is an excellent candidate from South Mumbai. More about him next time.

Please forward this onwards. And please do write in with your comments.



Deepak Tralshawala

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