Journalism of Courage
On the final day of the Congress interviews for civic poll aspirants,one sentence that was frequently heard was,at least this time,consider giving ticket to a common worker. The results might turn out to be controversial but as of now,the interviews have surely given a ray of hope to common party activists.
As many as 850 aspirants from 76 panels appeared in front of the Congress selection panel. The Congress,like all other parties,has kept the list of applicants a secret and the discomfort amongst the aspirants is visible given the undercurrents that family legacy might dominate the decision-making process in giving tickets.
While interviewers like city Congress president Abhay Chhajed,leader of the Opposition in the PMC,Aba Bagul,and Deepak Mankar,corporator Kamaltai Vyavhare are themselves seeking tickets for their respective panels,some of the other names that are being discussed include Amit Bagul,son of Aba Bagul,corporator Avinash Bagwe,son of MLA Ramesh Bagwe,Bapu Mankar,son of Deepak Mankar and the kin of other heavy weight politicians in the party.
I have been working selflessly for the party since 1996. Today,I am 40 and it is after almost 35 years that our ward has been declared for open category. Despite that,we are sure that candidate from our constituency will be the son of an MLA,though he is not from open category, said one of the party workers.
Said another aspirant,My father has been a Congress worker. I have been supporting every candidate that the party choses. Today,I got a chance to tell the panel members that the voice of common worker is not being heard. We are living on the hope that we will get a chance to climb up the ladder.
I personally advocate one ticket per household. But besides that,it is important to understand that a common party worker,if he has the caliber,can be considered as an eligible candidate. It is about winning elections and who ever has the capability to get elected should be given the ticket , said Ramesh Bagwe,MLA.
