Delhi RWAs Feed on Vote-Hungry Political Parties : Economic Times

Ahead of elections, politicos woo RWAs to reach out to middle-class voters

MANSI TEWARI & RAVI TEJA SHARMA 
NEW DELHI 

Resident welfare associations (RWAs) seem to have emerged as the flavour of this pre-election season in the Capital, with political parties across the spectrum wooing what they consider their ticket to the crucial middle-class backing in the upcoming assembly polls. 

Unlike in the past, when politicians used to peddle their promises mainly in the jhuggijhopri clusters or teeming slums, this time they appear to be focusing as much on the notoriously reluctant voters in the middle-class and uppermiddle-class localities through the local RWAs. So while Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced in June a sum of 1 lakh for urgent works per RWA, her rival, BJP’s state president Vijay Goel has been organising meetings with these associations across the city. Even the new entrant, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), appears keen to reach out to voters through RWAs. “This is where we get our political intelligence from,” says Goel, referring to RWAs. “They are our route to tell people about our alternative governance model.”

Tapping voters through RWAs is even more important for Opposition parties because they cannot offer largesse like the ruling party, says a BJP leader who does not wish to be named. Congress MLA Ramakant Goswami, who represents the Rajendra Nagar constituency, says RWAs are a great way to reach out to middle-class voters. “RWAs are just like village panchayats. They help bring out the voters...We want them to vote. They are the ones who get the most benefit out of development but very few come out to vote,” said Goswami. 

Dikshit had also announced that deputy commissioners in different districts of the city would have at their disposal Rs 5 crore each, which would be spent on the basis of priorities decided by RWAs. 

The chief minister’s move to offer money to RWAs just before the elections is an unfair inducement not unlike the freebies politicians used to distribute among slum-dwellers earlier, alleges the head of an RWA, reasoning that anybody can form such an association with seven members just to avail of the money. 

The new found interest among political parties, however, brings some relief to a large number of colonies in the city. 

“This is for the first time that I have seen both Congress and BJP trying to do something for the middle class ahead of the assembly elections, be it repairing of roads or addressing water and sewage issues,” says Vivek Tandon, a senior member of the Vasant Vihar Welfare Association who has been living in the south Delhi colony since the 1970s. 

Tandon says while Congress MLA Barkha Shukla Singh in June inaugurated the re-carpeting of a road in Vasant Vihar that falls in RK Puram constituency, BJP councillor Radhey Shyam Sharma inaugurated an internal road in the colony. 

AAP’s Shazia Ilmi, who is planning to contest from RK Puram, rues that RWAs are also polarised along political lines. “The RWA members become beholden to power. There’s a strong pro-BJP or pro-Congress slant and political patronage,” says Ilmi, a member of AAP’s national executive, adding that often RWAs do not allow her party’s volunteers to campaign in the colonies. 

Over time, multiple RWAs have come up in various localities, often with clashing political leanings. In 2008, ahead of the assembly elections, members of the United Residents’ Joint Action, an RWA collective, had joined BJP. 

“Political parties know that by wooing RWAs before the elections, they can hope to convert the middle class into a probable vote bank,” says BS Vohra, president of the East Delhi RWAs’ joint front, federation. 

R Ganesh Aiyar, president, Defence Colony RWA says policies continue to be framed without the involvement of all stakeholders. “The problem is that they do not consult RWAs. For everything, we have to seek the help of the MLA or MLC.”

"The problem is that they do not consult RWAs. For everything, we have to seek the help of the MLA or MLC." Aiyar's RWA recently managed to get a court to stay a new underground parking that was being constructed in the colony at the cost of 50 trees. 

Several other RWAs have been just as active, much to the chagrin of developers and local politicians who facilitate such projects. Although the Delhi government had set up the Bhagidari system in 2000 to institutionalise the process of engaging with RWAs and taking their opinion on board for formulation of policies, analysts say Dikshit's announcement shows the mechanism has not evolved to the extent desired. 

"We are fed up with these political parties," says Amit Aggarwal, executive member of the Vasant Kunj RWA. "They have created factions among RWAs, which end up fighting among each other. They lure us, give us funds in the election year and then forget about us for the next four years. But now, we are more careful." While such words may sound like music to Ilmi's ears, Aggarwal might have just given Congress and BJP reason to work even harder at connecting with RWAs.

with thanks : ECONOMIC TIMES : LINK : for detailed report.