“We want people to come”
Despite differences of opinion, over the poll’s procedures, the voters’ comforts have been attended to
Meeting at BPP boardroom to explain procedures to be followed on voting day
The judge inquired why the petitioners had approached the court so late (nine days before the election). Conceding the delay, the petitioners’ lawyer Shiraz Rustomjee said their present request was only to "allow the candidates and their delegates to be present (otherwise) only three people are present when counting is done.” He noted that while the election scheme elaborated on the procedures to be followed for voting on paper ballots, nothing was stated regarding EVMs. "This has been done without any kind of rules,” he emphasized. BPP counsel Aditya Thakkar pointed out that the firm of Deloitte Haskins and Sells had been appointed as auditors for the voting procedures.
In their prayers the petitioners had asked that: the BPP "frame a detailed procedure and rules for voting through EVMs;” the BPP be "restrained...from holding elections” till the new rules are finalized; the election be held using paper ballots; and the voting be done on four days at four different centers. As Kathawala jokingly said the petitioners must have been "asking for the sky,” to which Rustomjee laughed and agreed. Kathawala suggested the petitioners and the BPP discuss the modalities to be followed for future elections.
The BPP trustees again approached the Court on April 4 seeking some clarification on Kathawala’s order regarding the presence of observers during polling hours. Kathawala offered to appoint court officials to oversee the process, to which the three BPP trustees present in court reportedly agreed to. The petitioners however apparently turned down the proposal. The matter was kept for further hearing the same evening.
The afternoon prior, the election president Mahiyar Dastoor convened a meeting with the candidates, their representatives and the Parsi Press at the BPP boardroom to explain the procedures to be followed on election day and the facilities offered to make the process less arduous for voters. Unlike the October 2016 BPP elections where voters had to stand in the sun for hours and where toilet facilities were absent at some venues, this time shaded waiting areas that can seat up to 250 voters at a time, fans, bottled water and tea or coffee will be provided. Toilet facilities have been augmented at Khareghat Colony and Andheri. Numbered tokens will be handed to voters. "We want people to come,” explained Dastoor.
In order to streamline and update the voter list, forms will be handed out to voters and people would be photographed. Of the over 37,000 serial numbers, around 7,000 have been marked as dead by the BPP, stated trustee Kersi Randeria. There are bound to be more. At the October elections discrepancies were found. But the matters were sorted out.
Former BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta who attended the meet as a representative of Sethna claimed the handing out and filling of the form would create confusion, especially among senior citizens. "The polling day should be only for polling,” he emphasized. But Dastoor and Randeria explained the filling of forms was voluntary and the BPP data base needed to be updated. "Our eventual aim is to have a Parsi Aadhar card for every Parsi,” said Randeria.
Dhatigara mooted a separate line for senior citizens but Randeria pointed out that most voters were elderly and the general line would therefore move faster if the seniors queued separately! Dastoor clarified that physically impaired voters would be given priority. A separate queue for donors is envisioned.
Noting the earlier bottlenecks were caused at the registration counters, Randeria noted the "number of laptops had been doubled” to facilitate voting.
The election president clarified that there would be 25 more laptops in use than were utilized in the October 2015 elections, and 50 more people would be deployed.
Chief technology officer Yazdi Tantra whose firm On-Lyne Comtech India Private Limited has again been assigned the task of arranging the technical aspects of the voting assured the gathering that there were "three levels of checking” to avoid any bogus voting. The EVMs are "dumb. They will only collect votes.” They are not connected to any network or transmitter or receiver. They can operate on batteries, so if there is a power failure, voting will not stop. A key on the side can lock the machine once voting is over. Closed circuit cameras will be installed and a videographer will record the closing of the machines and other procedures. Separate EVMs will be used for general voters and the donors. A donor vote is counted as two votes. There are around 1,500 donors.
Dinshaw Mehta had objected to the bar on candidates and/or their representatives being able to oversee the processes on voting day. The BPP had pointed out that in the October 2015 elections 23 candidates contested for five seats and dealing with such a large number of individuals, plus voting officials would be difficult.
Tantra said that data would be transferred from the EVMs to the central server only after the close of voting hours. This would be cross checked with number of votes per candidate noted manually from the EVMs at the five polling centers. The manual lists, signed by Dastoor’s team member and countersigned by the auditors would be transported in sealed envelopes to Dadar, the central location from where the results would be declared. "The most important guy is the auditor,” quipped a participant, which Mehta was quick to challenge and retorted with "the most important guy is the candidate.”
Two of the candidates, Dhatigara and Sethna have refused to sign the voluntary code of conduct. Hence the guidelines on advertising and canvassing would not apply to them, stated Mehta. Dastoor however "requested” all candidates to follow the protocol. A mandatory code of conduct will be presented to the Bombay High Court after the April election so it will be in force before the next election. The process takes time and so as not to delay the elections, it was put off.
In response to Parsiana’s questions, Dastoor and Randeria clarified that the new code was very similar to the previous one. "Minor changes” included enhancement of the limit of canvassing expenditure from three to five lakhs per candidate.
The election has not generated much heat or light. The five candidates in the fray have relied till the first week of April on advertisements in the Parsi weeklies, for the most part, with sitting trustee Armaity Tirandaz also addressing meetings in the various colonies and former BPP trustee Mistry canvassing door-to-door. The other three have opted for a lower profile.
Tirandaz’s advertisements have been mainly in the Jam-e-Jamshed (JJ) while Mistry’s advertisements appear in the Parsi Times (PT). Dhatigara of the erstwhile Parsi Sena fame and Ervad Rayomand Joshi placed advertisements in both the weeklies. No advertisements of Kersi Sethna have been seen. His candidature and that of Dhatigara have reportedly been put up by Mehta, probably in the event the others are pressured to withdraw.
A proposal for a debate between Tirandaz and Mistry mooted by chartered accountant Xerxes Dastur, who unsuccessfully contested the October 2015 elections, was turned down by Mistry. In the JJ issue of March 13 Dastur stated, "I invite the two ladies to participate in an open discussion with the community,” and offered himself as a mediator if found acceptable. In the PT issue of March 26, Mistry turned down the proposal claiming her track record of community service sufficed and that "the vacancy must not be filled by glib talkers.” Mistry is viewed as the front runner and probably saw no need to give her opponents countenance. When Dastur made the proposal, the other candidates had not entered the fray, he stated so he made no mention of them.
With little public discourse, covering the candidates’ activities and views proves difficult. Beyond the written word one has little chance to observe the contestants and see how they measure up to public scrutiny. For Tirandaz’s meeting at Godrej Baug around 35 people showed up but provided Parsiana an opportunity to cover the meet as did Joshi’s interaction with Godrej Baug residents when there were 15 people in attendance.
An advertorial in the PT of February 27 describes "A week in the life of Arnavaz Mistry” listing the various associations she visits Monday to Friday. These include the F. S. Parukh Dharamshalla, the Sir J. J. Hospital Parsi Ward, the Jai Vakil School for Special Children and the Kamla Mehta Blind School. She is also active with the BPP matrimonial bureau.
Tirandaz states in the first JJ ad of March 13 that she serves on the executive committee of the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Home for Street Children, the Dadar Matunga Parsi Zoroastrian Association, the Senior Citizens of the Five Gardens, Dadar, Wadala and Matunga, the Patuck Polytechnic and is "an integral part” of several other community and cosmopolitan institutions.
A member of the Nationalist Congress Party, Dhatigara states in the JJ issue of March 27 that he would like to "genuinely serve the community” and if elected, "I pledge herein to give legal tenancy rights to all residents of the BPP trust buildings.
Joshi in his advertorial in the JJ of March 27, notes he is a graduate of the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies who left his job "with an established company” and started his own venture. His plans for the community include a community data base, affordable housing and medical treatment and imparting religious education.
Tirandaz: "a quiet trustee”
Frequently faulted for not stepping down as a trustee when the other five seats had fallen vacant in October 2015, at the election campaign meeting addressed by candidate Armaity Tirandaz on Good Friday, March 25, 2016 she explained that besides losing six months of her tenure, she would have needed to resign two months prior to the election date, cutting down her term by eight months. Also to be taken into account are the two years "of unproductive work… when everything had come to a standstill” due to dissension among the trustees. The cost of the election for the single seat can be set off against her vigilance in saving a flat in Cusrow Baug from being usurped by a wrongful inductor. "There are two-legged vultures always waiting to grab the assets of old people living alone… To keep vigilance over these people… we should have a support system in every baug,” she stressed.
Her critics have slammed her for being a "yo-yoing trustee,” because she first consented and then withdrew her signature from the proposed sale of the Parsi Lying-in Hospital property. But according to Tirandaz, "I had the courage to withdraw... On principle I withdrew. I didn’t like being cheated. What was promised to the board was not fulfilled…” The traits to her advantage, as listed by her, are "being fair-minded, using the power of intellect, following protocol and adhering to principles dear to me…
"I am a quiet trustee. I have used my senses more than my mouth,” asserted Tirandaz who believes that when the mouth is shut you can come to the right conclusion. For a community to progress, "comm-ni-unity” is vital, she has been advocating since her last election. "I still feel we must stay together. A Parsi is the worst enemy of a Parsi. I want every Parsi to be the best friend of a Parsi. Bring up every Parsi you know,” she advocated, citing the Central Bank of India in days gone by when one Parsi would help another.
To those who question the need for a social worker on the BPP board, she has a ready answer: "I think the BPP is a big social service provider, giving doles, medical aid and educational help to the weaker section.” A trained physiotherapist who studied psychology as part of the program, she insists she is able to offer a woman’s perspective when a decision has to be taken. A project dear to her heart is providing living facilities to special children whose parents are worried that after their death, there may be no one to look after these differently abled individuals.
When the new trustees were elected "my advice to them was, ‘don’t sacrifice your principles on the altar of appeasement and obligation,’” recalled Tirandaz. "You may be my best friend, but I will not do anything wrong. I have to live with my conscience, honesty, integrity. I will not do anything that will jeopardize that.” To those who feel the need for "like-minded trustees,” Tirandaz responds, "I don’t think there is like-mindedness even in twins. Ideas differ, the way we go about it differs. Finally we have to come to a consensus so that the community benefits.”
In no uncertain terms she pronounced, "I’m an orthodox.” On the issue of renegade priests case, she supported the ban that stopped them from praying at properties controlled by the BPP. She also declared that she voted against the child of a non-Parsi father being permitted to attend the Holiday Programme for Youth for she felt community assets should be restricted to children of both Parsi parents or of a Parsi father.
Convinced that "to serve as a trustee is a privilege and not prestige,” she asserted, "The service you give others remains forever. What you do for yourself, stays with you.” She revealed how even beggars who came to their house during her late husband Rustom’s time would always be made to sit on their sofa and not on the floor. "It is well known to all that instead of filling my coffers, I have dedicated my life to serving the community and society. I do not have deep pockets,” noted her publicity handout that came as a Xeroxed sheet. "Service should be done with compassion and not by instilling fear that ‘if you don’t vote for a particular candidate, don’t come back for aid, be it for medical bills, children’s education or housing,’” she believed.
Joshi: offering dynamism
"I may not have a long history of community work but I have a clear vision that the wisdom of elders, joined with the dynamism of youngsters can help our community to grow to much greater heights,” declared 36-year-old Joshi. "I believe education is the backbone for any community to excel,” he added as he paced back and forth when addressing Godrej baug residents in the Agiary compound on April 2, 2016.
Although he was not familiar with the efforts of the BPP on the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce to promote entrepreneurship, he stressed that he would be able to counsel upcoming entrepreneurs to have self-belief in their ability to succeed.
When asked regarding his religious leanings, the ordained mobed said, "I consider myself logical.” Keen to understand the reasoning behind every custom, he said dakhmenashini may have served a purpose earlier but in present times donating of organs may be more relevant to "give life to another human being.” He further added, "Religion cannot be forced on anyone… Each human being has the right to choose.”