The Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency, which turned out to be the game changer in deciding the Member of Parliament from the Mumbai North East constituency, will now work towards inspiring locals to join politics before the Maharashtra Assembly Elections due this year. Govandi Democratic Front, a local political movement will educate the locals on democratic rights, awareness of electoral issues and promote local leadership.
In a novel way to promote local leadership in governance, activists from Mankhurd and Shivaji Nagar have started a political movement to enlighten the citizens of their democratic rights and responsibilities. Through the Govandi Democratic Front, the movement aims to bridge the gap between the community and its elected representatives by advocating for active citizen participation in governance.
On Sunday, activists and social workers from the locality joined to launch the Govandi Democratic Movement at the Geeta Vikas Hall in Shivaji Nagar. Civil society organisations, non-government organisations, residents associations as well as doctors, teachers and other educated citizens of the locality will be a part of this movement, which will soon start working to bring literate, local and young faces to contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.
Shaikh Faiyaz Alam, convenor of Govandi Citizens Forum and a member of Govandi Democratic Front, said, “In the last 20 years, our leadership has been coming from rich backgrounds and specially from other parts of the city, who do not have any knowledge about the local issues. The people who do not know about our problems, cannot solve them as well. To tackle this issue, we plan to support youngsters from the area who are interested and capable of bringing a change.”
The agenda of this political movement includes enlightening the residents about the importance of voting and the impact of political decisions on their community. It will also work towards educating voters on factors to consider before casting their ballots, including the drawbacks of electing candidates with criminal backgrounds or excessive wealth. Additionally it will also encourage local residents to take up political leadership roles by providing them with necessary knowledge and support.
To address the developmental deficiencies persisting in Govandi, the movement will advocate for deserving candidates irrespective of party affiliations. It will also provide legal assistance to candidates to contest elections ranging from local body elections to the state assembly elections.
“Many of the law-abiding youngsters in the area are interested in getting involved in development politics. They have the ability and capability to solve the issues faced by the citizens of this constituency, which they have experienced themselves. We will also provide legal help to them when they file their candidature,” added Shaikh.
For the next state and local elections, this movement will strengthen the political leadership of the minority community and choose one of us to be the competent candidate in the upcoming elections. We will facilitate someone who aspires to be a revolutionary mind, local, literate, and public-spirited representative," said Nafis Ansari, a member of the advisory council of Govandi Democratic Front.
