Citizens' candidate.

Hansel D'Souza is the people's choice for Andheri West

SUSHMA Reddy lifts her feet gingerly over a rain- soaked tile and enters a middle- class housing complex in Manish Nagar to ring the first doorbell she sees.

After climbing up and down several such buildings, she checks her watch and rushes to the car to make it to work.

In between modelling for top notch fashion designers like Neeta Lulla and managing her production company, Reddy finds the time to knock at homes in Andheri West to sell a worthwhile candidate in this assembly election.

In a first for the city, an apolitical candidate has been selected by a citizen poll from Andheri West constituency. All kinds of celebrities are pitching in for him, from Shabana Azmi to music composer duo Vishal- Shekhar to singer Shaan.

The candidate, 51- year- old Hansel D'Souza, is much more than your average politician. He is a corporate trainer, and teaches management students in reputed institutes in the city. Having been into civic activism for 15 years, he was nominated by the citizens of the constituency to stand as an Independent as the ' citizens' candidate.' On September 13, an NGO, Jagruti Nagrik Manch ( JNM), held a poll among 157 area representatives, each of whom represents voters of one polling booth. Hansel polled 114 votes and was fielded from this newly created constituency which includes the upscale locality of Juhu, middle- class Jogeshwari

and 40 per cent slums.

Having been selected by a democratic process, JNM is anxious to ensure Hansel's victory to kick- start their long agenda of reforms in governance.

" We wish to use it as a template for the future," says Reddy. " We go up from the grassroots instead of top- down as most political parties do," says Praful Vora, one of the founders of JNM. Vishal Dadlani, who has already addressed campaign meetings for Hansel and intends going door- to- door, says, " He was selected by standing the normal procedure on its head. That's wonderful.

That is the need of the hour." He intends to explain to people the dire necessity of ridding politics of money and muscle power, and caste and creed.

Hansel's celeb supporters are brimming with enthusiasm.

Azmi, who is looked upon by the slum dwellers as a messiah, has been holding meetings and will participate in padyatras with him. Given the actor's espousal of the cause of the slum- dwellers, she plans to marshall her resources for him among squatters as well. " She is with us all the way," says Hansel.

Singer Shaan is a personal friend who " wants to sing his way into voters' hearts," grins Hansel. " He has always been there for me," he says. All the celebs may come together on Thursday for a public meeting.

Vishal says he wants to play music but has been told it would be added to the campaign budget. " This campaign is not about money. So, we'll lend our voices instead," he says.

Passionate about getting Hansel into the legislature, Reddy, who herself votes not from Andheri West but from Bandra, says, " Most people complain they want a good candidate but don't have one.

Now, here's a candidate selected by the people. All I have to do is make people aware and, very importantly, make sure they turn up to vote." This is not the first time Juhu residents have experimented with politics. Two years ago, they had selected a candidate, Adolf D'Souza, for the civic election through a similar process. He went on to become a corporator.

Hansel, who faces sitting Congress MLA from Vile Parle Ashok Jadhav and Vishnu Korgaonkar from the Shiv Sena, hopes to repeat the feat. The response he has received from the residents of the area is " overwhelming." " People ask me why we didn't do this earlier," he says.

" This is the beginning. We have to go up the hyperbolic curve and have people's candidates everywhere in the city from Bhayandar to Colaba," asserts Vora.

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