The residents trooped up the stairs to the terrace of their south Mumbai building on Tuesday night expecting nothing out of the ordinary at their monthly housing society meeting — the usual bag of complaints, taking stock of the situation; all this while indulging in a bit of backslapping to lighten the mood. But they were in for a surprise.
Huddled together in a corner with members of the housing society committee was a group of political workers smiling from ear to ear. No sooner had they spotted the big brown bag held close to the partymen’s chest, they knew that they were seeing a last-ditch attempt to win their votes.
The scene is not much different across several wards in the city.
What’s on the plate at these terrace meetings? Come up with strategies to overcome hurdles in specific pockets of a ward and discuss how much money is enough to win voters over.
Close aides of candidates whose fates will be sealed on February 16 have fallen back on the trusted door-to-door canvassing after public campaigns ended on Tuesday evening. As per rules of the state election commission, all parties have to stop public campaigns a day before polls.
But core team members of parties refuse to just sit and twiddle thumbs. To show that their promise of doling out money holds good, many close associates of candidates are fixing up appointments with housing societies and office-bearers of social groups to bribe voters.
Others are going around assuring voters that the bribe will land at their doorstep after they poll their votes.
A candidate admitted on the condition of anonymity, “Not only are we calling such terrace meetings with housing society members, but we are also meeting people who are active in local social groups. We discussed the issue with them and asked them how much (money) they want. Apart from the money, I have given them genuine assurances that we will bring about a change after I become a corporator.”
Come Wednesday, and most of the workers might spend a sleepless night, especially in wards with large slums. Candidates are banking heavily on slum pockets, which has always seen more people come out to vote than those from urban areas.
According to political analyst Uday Nirgudkar, all party candidates resort to bribing, thinking it is the done thing.
A senior official from the state election commission said, “If we find someone trying to woo voters by offering money, we will file a police complaint about it.”
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