Citizens’ candidate says middle class apathy caused his defeat

“The result has disappointed everyone. We had big plans for the constituency and none of the political parties could have matched our manifesto,” said D’Souza.

D’Souza said it was the apathy of middle class voters that cost him the seat. “The same people have been the beneficiaries of our work and yet they did not come out and vote for us,” he said.

However,he admitted that certain limitations during the campaign had created a communication gap between him and the voters. “The window to communicate our agenda to the citizens was small and we got just nine days to do that. Because our campaign was around infrastructure development,we needed more time,” he said. “But we did get tremendous response from certain pockets where our campaign had been more effective,” said D’Souza.

However,he said this electoral defeat will not deter him continuing his work. D’Souza,along with fellow activist,plans to get back to civic activism with much more vigour.

“It will be an uphill battle from now but we plan to pursue our agenda with even more vigour. Elections were a shortcut for development as things get done quickly if you have power. This was a factor that tempted us to contest the election,” said D’Souza.

D’Souza,through his Juhu Citizens’ Welfare Group (JCWG) and other NGOs,plans to push development works like de-congesting traffic-ridden roads in Andheri,work for slum redevelopment and low-cost housing,stop commercial reclamation of the sea and push the Andheri vision plan created by activists that includes 10 km of walking/cycling tracks and recreational areas.

Asked about the slum dwellers’ vote,which went against D’Souza,he said though they want development,they are guaranteed basic necessities like water and shelter only if they vote for a particular party. “They too want change but not at the cost of their shelter,” he said.