Date:02/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/02/stories/2007020213050400.htm

New Delhi

RWAs gear up for participation in polls

Staff Reporter

First list of ward committees submitted to the specially created MCD election secretariat

NEW DELHI: Eager to make their presence felt in the upcoming elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Residents' Welfare Associations from Sectors 11, 16 and 17 of Rohini have become the first to submit their ward committee list to the secretariat created specially to coordinate the RWAs' participation in the polls.

United Residents' Joint Action for Rohini Coordinator R. C. Kamboj forwarded the list on behalf of the prospective ward to the election secretariat created by People's Action to facilitate the process.

"We have identified the members of the ward committee on the basis of the main RWAs and their office-bearers in the areas,'' he said, adding that a two-tier committee with one main ward committee and another support sub-committee would be created. Consequently a 12-member ward committee is expected to be formed for this ward, whose identification is pending finalisation of the delimitation process.

Hectic parleys have begun in almost every zone of Delhi to form such ward committees. .

Meanwhile, the RWAs have also welcomed the reported statements of the Delhi unit chiefs of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress that they were open to RWAs' suggestions on candidates from their areas.

"This is a red letter day for participatory politics and a big vindication for the movement for good governance,'' said Sanjay Kaul, president of People's Action, adding that "it also marks our first successful step in initiating grass roots electoral engagement among residents of every ward''.