Keen on citizen candidates contesting civic elections? Take an online poll

With the civic elections approaching, the movement to launch more citizen candidates is gathering steam, and an online poll is being taken to seek opinion on how the city wants to go about selecting its candidate.

With the civic elections approaching, the movement to launch more citizen candidates is gathering steam, and an online poll is being taken to seek opinion on how the city wants to go about selecting its candidate.

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The first citizen corporator in Mumbai, Adolf D'Souza from Juhu has decided to take these polls. The plan to field more citizen candidates in the coming civic polls will be based on the conclusion of the poll.

The people behind getting Mumbai's first citizen candidate (a candidate selected from among citizens who do not have an affiliation to any political party and who would pledge to perform in a transparent manner) now want to encourage more citizens to be part of the same as the city goes to the polls early next year.

The online polls have three options, one is whether citizens want to field candidates in their respective wards using their own logistics, or whether a group of eminent citizens in Mumbai should form a committee and screen candidates or have a platform of like-minded people and include NGOs and decide the candidate through a transparent and a participative process.

"The deadline is July 31. After the results are out we will know which direction to look in," D'Souza said.

Anita Sahani, a resident of Juhu, said this online poll was a great thing to know what the people of the city want.

"The polls will help gauge the response of citizens. We definitely want to field more candidates," Sahani said.

D'Souza will also be taking a poll via SMS. He will be sending mass SMSes asking people whether they want a political party, a new social party or a citizen candidate.