Rebel without a pause

Punekars held candlelight vigils to bring him back as commissioner when he was removed after a week in the hot seat for doing what no other ...

Punekars held candlelight vigils to bring him back as commissioner when he was removed after a week in the hot seat for doing what no other municipal chief had dared to: launch a demolition drive that hurt many a powers-that-be. That was in April, 1999. A bunch of PILs brought him back and he continued his crusade against corruption. But two months later, when corporaters voted 119-0 to oust Arun Bhatia, they cited his arrogance, temper, inaffability8212;8216;8216;they had no other line of attack, they didn8217;t dare bring up corruption8217;8217;8212; he exited.

That8217;s Bhatia8217;s trump card. For him, it8217;s not so much the low-key BJP incumbent Pradeep Rawat, rather Pune8217;s big dada, Suresh Kalmadi the Cong-NCP nominee for the Pune LS seat that he is loving to take on. And how? By calling him a 8216;8216;chor8217;8217; in public meetings a throwback to his early days in the corporation when he rubbed him the wrong way in an anti-encroachment drive.

To understand why it8217;s a big high for Bhatia, look at his career file. In 26 years of service, everytime he sniffed a scandal Employment Guarantee Scheme in 8217;82 in Dhule, Floor Space Index and Urban Land Ceiling in 8217;84 Mumbai, a drive against big pharma firms in 8217;93 etc, he was rewarded with a transfer. In all, 26 times. So the decision to contest is a natural corollary to his raison d8217;etre. It8217;s also his joie de vivre. 8216;8216;It is a liberating process. I can finally go down the street saying Kalmadi is corrupt, and not worry about the rule book.8217;8217;

But is that enough for the voter? Bhatia8217;s agenda for Pune centres around starting a people8217;s movement to gain control of the corporation budget of Rs 820 crore; bring about transparency; and weed out corruption. 8216;8216;I believe that if there8217;s good governance Pune will be a better place.8217;8217; As for the BSP bijli, sadak, paani factor, he shreds apart his rivals8217; claims of a shining Pune. 8216;8216;Look at our roads, water supply, health service, corporation hospitals, slums 8230; there8217;s a lot of work to be done.8217;8217;

Bhatia8217;s primary campaign tool has been leaflets, 10 lakh of them. He has also held over 300 garage meetings at street corners, colleges, clubs, tambola sessions, Parsi panchayats, church groupings. But slum visits are where he is feeling the heat. Threats to the local populace by party henchmen soon after he addresses them, a dose of police high-handedness against his crew distributing pamphlets have steeled his nerves. In the poll tamasha, he has also given himself a leg up by seeking police protection: 8216;8216;I am talking about corruption openly and hence making a lot of people angry, from party workers to contractors8217;8217;.

Astute enough to realise that elections need money, Bhatia has appealed to 8216;8216;conscious citizens and NRIs8217;8217; for funds on his website. It8217;s obviously worked, for his election fund is richer by Rs 11 lakh all by cheque8212;the account details are on the website too: Rs 3 lakh-plus has been spent on leaflets, zero on refreshments.

Ask him what is the most important issue, he quips ethics. 8216;8216;It8217;s going to be a moral vote. The citizen will be compelled to choose between honesty and the corruption of political parties.8217;8217;

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That makes Bhatia a sort of dream candidate for the discerning urbanite: anti-corruption and anti-politician; fighting against all that the neta and babu stand for; playing up an activistic campaign team of volunteers including wife Priti, friends, socialites, ex-army men8212;one has even loaned a few young toughies from a military training school to accompany him on his jeep. Ultimately, Bhatia is the one you would want to see win. Yet there is a 8216;8216;bechara akela kya karega8217;8217; tag. Ask him and he is typically confident. 8216;8216;I am winning8230; I have seen it in the eyes of my voters.8217;8217; But it8217;s likely to be a lonely road ahead, though right now he is enjoying every bit of it. The TV at home is stuck on a 24-hour news channel, Elvis and Perry Como aren8217;t playing on the Bose speakers, the glass-top dining table is being royally misused with election paraphernalia, and a cardboard 8216;8216;Dee Tech megaphone8217;8217; box looks horribly out of place under a varnished table8230; the Bhatia household is in poll mode. All the best to them.