Mallika Sarabhai sets stage for the big fight

It’s another sultry afternoon for Gandhinagar city, but people have enthusiastically gathered in hordes for a public rally. Remarkably, they are not waiting to listen to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani but looking forward to a capturing performance by Mallika Sarabhai.

Dusk in the sleepy village of Popatpur in Sanand does not have many tales to tell, but this week, the hamlet on the outskirts of Ahmedabad will come alive as Darpana’s troupe of artists will descend for a performance of Bhavai and a play titled Sapna.
These are not commercial projects, but a part of Gandhinagar’s Independent candidate Sarabhai’s election campaign!

If the danseuse is known for creativity, her election campaigning will be indeed a creative delight for Gandhinagar’s electorate. Starting this week, Sarabhai’s troupe will kick off a series of plays in various villages of Gandhinagar constituency. Each play or dance performance will have a social message that the Independent identifies with as a politician.

And of course, the finale will be the candidate herself performing at public rallies. At least seven such rallies will be held in each assembly constituency of Gandhinagar starting April 15. “I will perform in the public rallies. In addition to our own artists, several theatre groups from all over the country have shown interest in campaigning. Arvind Gaur of Asmita Theatre will be here. RTI activist Aruna Roy will also come. Lots of other people from Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad will also join us,” Mallika said.

The dances and plays will contain social messages of clean politics rid of criminalisation, citizens’ right to information, democracy, rally against division of society on communal lines, rights of women and the downtrodden etc. It should be noted that these campaigners, some professionals of local theatre groups, have volunteered for campaigning.

If the campaign is unique, so are the campaigners. Darpana seems to have donned the war paint. A cartoon mocking Advani’s policy on black money is painted on one of the walls. A map of Gandhinagar constituency is put up for everyone’s reference. A team of 15-20 youngsters is researching on the area. The library in Darpana is being converted into Mallika’s campaign office, while the team of volunteers work out of her residential flat opposite the academy in Usmanpura.

The bright office is a far cry from the middle-aged workers in starched white kurtas of an average political party. Instead, the place is crawling with enthusiastic volunteers aged between 18-30 years. They are students of political think tanks, political science, activists and local students.

“Over 1,000 volunteers had enlisted to help. They will be gathering relevant data, and doing all kinds of work,” said volunteer Vinutha Mallya.

On her part, Sarabhai is on the battleground 24x7. “I have had face to face contact with about 60-70,000 people in the past two weeks since I announced my candidature. We have finished the initial meetings in all seven constituencies. I am walking through the slums as well as the hosing societies. We do one unannounced walk through and one organised visit in every constituency,” she said.