Finding a Constituency

If I am ever to fight an election (and as I need to start at the grassroots), I need to identify the constituency / ward from where I will contest. Keeping the spirit of the Representation of Peoples Act in mind, it is recommended that I contest from a place where my issues, problems, aspirations etc match that of the electorate. I need to think like them, identify with them, understand their issues etc. Given that all my life I have stayed in Mumbai, I cannot represent anyone else.

I have lived in Bandra East, studied in Mahim, Matunga and Dadar. 90% of my life in Mumbai has been in these localities. I have roamed through the chappa chappa of these areas and know the gallis and roads like the back of my hand. I have been in these areas at the time of massive floods, terrorist attacks, Mumbai riots and Twenty Twenty World Cup Wins, so I think I have good idea of how people think and react and the underlying character of these areas.

I think the literacy levels in these areas are much higher than the rest of Mumbai, slum population is minimal (other than Bandra which pretty much rules out my chances of contesting from there) and is mostly populated by middle class families having similar ideals and dreams as my family – and in my view that is very important and in the true principles of a representative democracy (unlike several leaders who contest from a constituency without ever having visited that place before, Bellary and Vidisha being a case in point)

So I have reached the obvious conclusion, that I will mostly contest as an MLA or a BMC Corporator from the Bandra, Matunga, Dadar and Mahim belt of Mumbai – I need to zero in on the actual constituency or ward but that will happen only after doing a detailed analysis of the constituency maps, demographics analysis of the slum population (who will mostly not relate to what I want to say) and the analysis of the previous voting trends. (you may be surprised that most of this data is available in the public domain on the Internet and I have already got a hand on most of it). I have also reached the conclusion that I need to contest the BMC election first before assembly as I just need to work on about seventy five thousand people and I have better chances to zero in on the perfect ward where I can maximize my chances.

My objective is to very clearly to get a foothold into a system and then work up from there and over time get more similar minded people to join me. I can approach this as an independent or as a member of a political party, a decision which I will needs to take shortly, and which will be a key factor the course I chart in future.