By Mayank Aggarwal, IANS,
New Delhi : One look at its candidates and you know that the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party is trying hard to be a party “with a difference”. For the Delhi polls, it claims to have fielded the city’s lone woman auto driver, a house painter, the youngest male and female in the fray, and a man who has married his wife six times!
For some of the party’s 11 candidates for the Nov 29 polls to elect a 70-member assembly, this is the first brush with politics. What’s more, most of them hail from ordinary backgrounds.
“Unlike other parties we have given tickets to only 11 candidates. We believe in giving a voice to those to whom nobody listens,” said Sanjay Sachdev, Delhi Pradesh president of the National Panthers Party.
One of them is Kanta Kohli, who the party claims is the youngest woman candidate in the Delhi polls at the age of 25 years and two months.
“Everyone says politics is bad but someone has to come forward to clean it up and I want to be that someone,” Kohli, a journalist who is contesting the Kondli seat, told IANS.
“I want young people to come forward in politics. My family is also happy with this decision and they want me to work for the development of the area,” added Kohli, who has a younger sister and parents in her family.
The party has also nominated Delhi’s first woman auto driver Sunita Chaudhary from Greater Kailash. She is teaching nearly 300 women how to drive so that they can become independent.
“They are all helping me campaign,” Chaudhary told IANS.
Said Sachdev, “Women play several roles with ease and perfection, like that of a mother, sister and educator. I believe the entry of young women will help in improving the condition of the country today.”
The party also boasts of the youngest male candidate, Tariq Mirza, who is 25 years and four months, in the assembly polls.
“Though I am from the advertising field, now I want to work for people,” said Mirza, who is fighting from the Matia Mahal constituency.
Another interesting candidate is Harsh Malhotra, who has married his wife six times and promises to tie the knot again if he wins the elections.
“It is said that (Hindu gods) Shiv and Parvati married each other seven times. We also want to do that. Mine was a love-cum-arranged marriage and with every marriage our relationship strengthens,” said Malhotra.
“We want to give people the message that even at a time when marital disputes and divorces have become common, married couples can still be happy with each other,” said Malhotra, who is fighting from the New Delhi constituency and is involved in the garment business.
Prem Pal Safediwale, who is contesting from Mustafabad, has made a living by whitewashing for the last 14 years and is hoping to give his area a new look if he wins.
“I will address the problems of locals like roads, sanitation and sewage.”
Then there is Ramesh Rangi, a model by profession who has also acted in nearly 35-40 CD films in Hindi, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi. He is fighting from the Sadar Bazar constituency.
“It’s for the people of my constituency that I have come into politics. They want someone who can understand their problems,” Rangi, who featured in the popular Haryanvi song “Hat ja tau pachhe ne”, told IANS.
Suraj Prakash (Krishna Nagar), a national award winner for road safety; Om Kishan (Nangloi Jat), a Dalit leader; and Swarn Singh Yadav (Kirari), who sells socks on the pavement are some of the other candidates.
“Our political campaign is of the people, by the people and for the people. Our motto is ‘Ek vote, Ek Note’ – all those who pledge support to us donate money to us and our campaign runs on that alone,” said Sachdev.
“Our party is a party with a difference!”