NEW DELHI: Residents' Welfare Associations in the Capital have decided to contest the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.

At a meeting held here under the aegis of People's Action, United Residents' Joint Action (URJA) and New Delhi People's Alliance this past week, representatives of about 250 RWAs decided to challenge the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party by selecting "clean and effective candidates" from their own residential areas to stand for the MCD elections.

Track record

For selecting candidates with a clean track record and ensuring their victory, the RWAs have developed a format where the selected candidate will be offered to the main political parties to be fielded as the local favourite. If the political parties do not agree, a consensus candidate will contest the elections as an independent with the backing of the RWAs and civil society groups.

Evaluation

Outlining the procedure for the MCD elections, People's Action president Sanjay Kaul said the RWAs would first have to select and create ward committees of 11 members from each ward. Thereafter a selection process will be set in motion involving evaluation of the prospective candidates by the ward committee. The process will end with a public meeting where the prospective candidates will have to face a "primary election" to select a consensus candidate by secret ballot.

"Our fundamental idea is to induce better candidature. If we can change the mindset of existing parties and they agree to adopt candidates selected by the ward committees, so much the better. If not, the RWAs will have to pose a challenge to them in each ward," said Mr. Kaul.

Procedure

The People's Action president warned the RWAs that they must not put up candidates without forming ward committees or following the prescribed procedure as such candidates would always be susceptible to pressures and pulls from political groups. "They will also have no credibility in the eyes of the residents," said Mr. Kaul.

Opposition

Reminding people that there would be two kinds of opposition to this idea, Mr. Kaul said: "One section that will speak against this idea will be RWAs who are aligned with political parties or politicians. They would not want their party's vote banks to be challenged. The other section will insist in fielding candidates without following the procedure; they will be acting on behalf of political parties who want to cut votes to benefit their candidates. RWAs must guard against such motivated or vested groups."

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