Who votes, asks south Delhi

Residents have ‘no faith’ in councillors, while RWAs persuade them to vote

Many residents of south Delhi, one of the city’s most developed areas, may not vote in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls scheduled on April 15.

In the 2007 MCD polls, only 30 per cent people in south Delhi had cast their votes.

While some express their unhappiness towards the MCD’s performance, others remain disinterested in the forthcoming polls. They say issues related with water, power, sanitation and roads persist in all colonies despite complaints and requests.

Gursharan Singh, resident of East of Kailash, has decided not to vote this year.

“Why should I vote when the appointed MCD officers are apathetic towards our issues? And I do not see any deserving candidates this year. Most of these councillors eat up the money they get for area development,” said Singh. “They use the money for their own development. I will not vote for such people,” he said.

Anita Rao, a resident of Moolchand, is not convinced that her vote will make any difference in making the society better.

“Our resident welfare association president had approached us to convince others to cast votes, but we refused. I will not encourage corruption. Sanitation is a common issue in most wards here,” she said.

“Of the MCD’s eight zones, sanitation work in five zones has been outsourced to a private company. But the areas are never clean. We complained to the councillor but nothing has been done,” she added.

Residents say they will enjoy thier Sunday at home rather then spend it waiting at polling booths.

“It’s better to sit at home then burn under the sun. How does it matter if I vote or don’t?” said GK resident Rajender Sachdeva on whether he would cast his vote.

However, RWAs are confident that their efforts will encourage people in south Delhi to vote and discontinue the trend of ‘no voting’ this year.

“We are preparing for a unified campaign to get voters to polling booths and spread awareness about MCD's role in development,” said Pankaj Aggarwal, Delhi Joint RWA Front, an umbrella organisation of 300 RWAs. “We are aiming at a 70 per cent turnout,” said Aggarwal.

RWAs have decided not to restrict their campaigning efforts to door-to-door requests and open meetings. They will involve people through contests and question-and-answer sessions with candidates.