This LS 2014 Elections ... will you, the voter, make a promise ?

“The AAP will make no promises to you. Instead it will ask you to make a promise. This time you will not cast your vote on the basis of kinship. You will forget caste; you will drive away the distributors of alcohol and money. AAP has not come to ask you for your vote. If there is anything we ask of you, it is to have faith in yourselves; and to listen to the voice of your soul. This election is not about the victory or defeat of political parties; it is about victory or defeat within ourselves. In front of the voting machine, we must think of the future of our children, the future of our city and our dreams for the future of our country.” Short link http://bit.ly/meera4mumbai

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Deciding Your Vote will be the Easiest Decision You Make This Year

Mumbai, deciding whom to vote for will be the easiest decision you make this year. 
How? Let’s see.

Three issues that are pretty much universal across voters this year are women’s safety, corruption and infrastructure.

Women’s safety
1781 women in Mumbai were victims of crime in 2012. There were 647 rapes and 1877 molestation cases in Mumbai in the last three years. 27.5 million women in India are affected by sexual violence.
But our politicians continue to be insensitive to women and women’s issues. The cabinet refused to pass a law that barred politicians charged with sexual crimes from contesting elections. The cabinet also refused to bring sexual crimes by armed forces under criminal law.
Here and here are some collections of the sexist remarks that our politicians have recently made. The list includes a politician saying- if you can’t stop rape, enjoy it, another describing a female colleague as sau tunch maal, and another saying women shouldn’t be given mobile phones. These are comments made by elected representatives from across political parties in India. Choose wisely, voter.
Then there are political parties who think they can tell you how to dress, to not celebrate Valentine’s day, to not go out on dates, what movies can be screened, what Facebook posts are allowed and what music can be played.

Corruption
80 percent of shiv Sena MPs have criminal charges. One out of every three Congress and BJP candidates have criminal charges. The NCP’s president and India’s minister of agriculture openly asks his supporters to vote twice in this election!
India’s corruption rate is double the global average and political parties are the most corrupt institutions in India. Corruption cost our economy Rs. 36,400 crores in a year, excluding the coal, 2G, CWG and mining scams which together cost the exchequer lakhs of crores. The scams have spanned every area from sports, natural resources, defence supplies, property and elections.
How can politicians who cause corruption end it?

Infrastructure
Even as corruption eats into lakhs of crores of our economy, 626 million indians don’t have access to toilets. Only 19 percent of our children enrol in higher studies. At some Indian health centers, the doctor to patient ratio is 75000 to one.
But a look at the BMC’s expenditure shows that less than 50 percent of its capital budget was utilised. The fire brigade, which is notoriously ill-equipped has only utilised 15 percent of the allocated budget. The roads department used less than 60% of the budget, as did the health department. Despite this underutilisation, the budget for next year has increased by 13 percent. Forget the statistics, Mumbaikars only need to step out of their homes to witness the incomplete projects, the missing roads, and the impossible traffic. How long can you take it?

Look around you, has the condition of your city improved in the last ten years? Think back to the election promises of 2009, have they been executed? Do you feel safer, healthier? Has your quality of life and the lives of others in your city improved?

No, no, no, no and no.

Vote for Change.

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