The final hours

There were smiles all around the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) boardroom as the new trustees took over from the outgoing group on October 23, 2008. In an atmosphere described as "quite cordial” by one observer, the new chairman of the BPP Dinshaw Mehta offered the erstwhile chairman Minoo Shroff the chair normally occupied by the BPP head. Shroff politely declined and Mehta accepted the seat.

Six of the seven new trustees were present for the handover ceremony, developer Jimmy Mistry being delayed. Once the former trustees left, the supporters of the new trustees thronged the boardroom and applauded as each trustee made introductory remarks. Noshir Dadrawala, the only Adult Franchise for Progress (AFP) candidate to be elected trustee, reportedly asked to hug onetime allies turned foes Khojeste Mistree and Yazdi Desai of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ). Dadra­wala was once proposed by the duo as a candidate for trusteeship against sitting trustee Dinshaw Tamboly but withdrew when the attacks on his opponent became nasty. Desai then unsuccessfully contested the election.

Thirty-four years ago in 1974, the orthodox had won an overwhelming electoral mandate. Of the seven new elected trustees five — Mehta, Mistree, Desai, Rustom Tirandaz and Dadrawala — have at one time or the other been associated with the orthodox movement. Social worker Arnavaz Mistry and Jimmy Mistry espoused the orthodox line, as did nearly all the 32 candidates barring Ervad Framroze Mirza, but orthodoxy was not the main plank of their election campaign.

"A new dawn in the BPP” proclaimed the WAPIZ Page of October 25, 2008. "The Parsi community still appreciates its traditional values and religious tenets… that is why AFP-AZA (Alert Zoroastrians Association) has been shown the door. The community has clearly rejected the ideology of the liberal reformists as well as the biased Parsi Press.”

In his "Parsi Tari Arsi” column in The Bombay Samachar issue of October 26, 2008 AFP founder Berjis Desai stated, "the forces of change and reform have been soundly and publicly thrashed… the Australian cricket team (when) offered the Parsis of Mumbai (not Bombay) said: ‘We prefer Bangla­desh! We feel more comfortable with them.’”

The Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly did not refer to the electoral debacle but carried a notice issued by Mehta on its front page inviting the community to a celebratory gahanbar on November 1, 2008 at the Dadar Parsi Colony Gymkhana.

(Top) Candidates and supporters watch the voter tally on the screens as ballot papers are removed from box, counted, stamped and scanned under watchful eye of election president Rustom Hormuzdiyar. (Alongside) software consultant Ketan Adhvarje explaining renumbering of ballot papers. Above (from left): Mehli Colah, Hormuzdiyar, Rustom Jasoomoney, Cawas Panthaky and Ratan Lalkaka.

Slanging match

The counting of 13,564 votes at the Banaji Atash Behram Hall on October 20, 2008 started with a heated verbal exchange between Shroff and Mehta according to those present at the time.

Mehta reportedly objected to the presence of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras being installed in the hall where counting was to commence, stating the BPP board had not cleared the proposal.

Shroff felt there was no harm in permitting the CCTV equipment to remain which occasioned an outburst by Mehta: "You’re always siding with Kersi (Randeria) and the AFP.”

As tempers rose Shroff reportedly barked at Mehta to "sit down first.”

"The chairman does not have the casting vote,” retorted Mehta.

"Behave yourself,” fired back Shroff. "Sit down, you’re just a candidate.”

"I’m also a trustee,” countered Mehta.

"You only know how to shout,” responded Shroff.

Mehta alleged that Shroff was partisan because "you proposed (the candidature) of (Nadir Modi) the future chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet.” Modi was AFP’s choice for chairmanship should their panel win.

"I can propose who I want… This is no way to behave,” answered Shroff. "When you come into my position you’ll realize” what it’s like to be spoken to rudely. "I’ve seen the world. What are your achievements, only the BPP?”

"You can’t say this to me. I’m still a sitting trustee,” Mehta is said to have replied.

As tempers flared one of Mehta’s sons pulled him away. An uncharacteristically angry Shroff stormed out of the venue. "Everyone was aghast,” stated a volunteer present.

"Who the hell is he talking to me like that,” Shroff remarked to Parsiana outside the hall. "There is a decent way of talking.”

Earlier WAPIZ candidate Khojeste Mistree told the 150 or so people gathered at the counting hall that "this morning I saw Mr Berjis Desai of the AFP going to the house of the (election) president (Rustom Hormuzdiyar in Khareghat Colony) at around 8 a.m. Mr Desai was there 15 minutes and then he came out.” Mistree resides in the Shah­nazeen building at Khareghat Colony.

Desai was not aware that the vote counting venue had shifted from Khareghat Colony to the Banaji Atash Behram Hall. On finding no one present, Desai went to inquire from Hormuzdiyar as to when the counting was due to start.

sample of a ballot paper;

The next day, due to violence caused by the arrest of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena fascist leader Raj Thackeray, taxis were off the road and Hormuzdiyar and an associate unaware of the turmoil in the city were standing outside the Colony waiting in vain for a cab. Mehta’s son Hormuz saw them and offered a ride.

Hormuzdiyar joked that even accepting that lift or a cup of black coffee from an AFP volunteer would cause further allegations to be leveled against his objectivity. As it is several independent candidates including Mehta doubted his integrity, as did the WAPIZ slate.

In a tense atmosphere with mistrust rife, the counting of the votes through four electronic scanners, had not commenced till past 3 p.m. on the first day. Prior to scanning the ballot paper, the ballot boxes had to be unsealed, the ballot papers taken out, counted and tallied with the total at the respective centers. Each ballot paper and envelope had to be rubber stamped so that in the event of any irregularity, the vote could be traced back to the voter (in state and national elections this facility is also there). Ballots were stamped at the back as per the requirements of the BPP electoral scheme and also stamped in front so the candidates and their supporters could view them on the four screens set up in the hall above the scanners. A fifth screen electronically displayed the total on the other four.

The scanners can process two to four ballot papers a minute, explained Ketan Adhvarje of TASK Incorporation who programmed the software. But the speed had to be slowed down to allow the candidates and their supporters to study each ballot.

People present likened the atmosphere in the counting venue to a horse race or the share bazaar. Fortunes fluctuated mainly for the last two of the seven seats. Arnavaz Mistry, Mehta, Jimmy Mistry, Khojeste Mistree and Desai held the top five slots with Arnavaz by far the leader.

By the second day of the counting, October 21, 2008, the trend of the first five winners was established. The tussle remained for the sixth and seventh places. For some time WAPIZ candidates Shirin Choksey and Bomi Kavina were in the lead but were soon overtaken by Dr Ketayun Dinshaw and Tirandaz. At one stage Dadrawala overtook a downcast Tirandaz. Counting continued on the first two days past 11 p.m.

But on the third day’s counting on October 21, by late afternoon Tirandaz a resident of Dadar edged ahead due to support from the Dadar voter bloc. The room burst into spontaneous jubilation with a joyous Mehta exclaiming "F… AFP.”

As the voter tally continued Dadra­wala inched out Dinshaw and AFP leader Nadir Modi and the die was cast. Ten candidates who polled less than five percent of the votes cast (678) forfeited their Rs 5,000 security deposit.