Gaothans unite to make their vote count

Less than two weeks before the state elections, residents of gaothans across the city have come together in an attempt to unite their community under one banner.

Less than two weeks before the state elections, residents of gaothans across the city have come together in an attempt to unite their community under one banner.

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The meeting at Vile Parle’s St Francis Xavier School on Friday was attended by nearly 100 residents of gaothans, which are village spaces within the city.

The meeting’s agenda was to form a central association of all the 189 gaothans in Mumbai, and to urge its residents to vote en mass. “So far, people from gaothans have been blindly voting for various parties. With the divided vote, our problems were never addressed,” said Gleason Barretto, member of the Gaothans Active Residents Association of Juhu.

The meeting passed a charter of demands, which they will put forward to all political parties. “If our demands are not met, we will put up our own candidate for the next municipal elections,” said Barretto.