Click to play videoMumbai: Citizen groups in Mumbai have decided to put up independent consensus candidates for the upcoming BMC elections. The groups have already started collecting applications from residents who will then be put through screening procedures before selection.
21-year old Darshan Pandit might be concentrating on his immunology paper, but that hasn't left him immune to the wave of citizen activism in Mumbai. The post graduate student doesn't even have his voter ID yet, having just applied for it. But he is aiming for another first as Darshan hopes to fight this municipal election and could be a candidate from Citizens group Mumbai 227.
Darshan said, "As a voter I felt I could make a change, but not as much as when I am a corporator." Public safety on the streets and education top his agenda.
Mumbai's crumbling infrastructure prompted 24-year old Rahul Jain to take the plunge into public life. He said that there is no point in being an arm chair critic, but the question is why would he plunge into politics having to give up a lucrative career as chartered accountant.
"A corporator doesn't have to spend the whole day there, from what I understand if he has a proper office, a nice portal and a helpline where people can send in their complaints, he can manage," Rahul said.
Citizen groups say around 10 per cent of the applicants for independent citizen corporators are in the age group of 21-30, a significant number in a city that is not known for strong student politics. Many more youngsters also work as volunteers for these groups.
Call it the Anna Hazare effect if you will, but campaigns like the 'be a corporator one' have certainly caught the eye of middle class Mumbai. And to ensure the clean candidates get a fighting chance, applicants will face interviews and even psychometric tests designed by HR consultancy firms and will also undergo a background check before they are fielded.
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