Parsi Politics – Let The Games Begin!

It’s that time of the year again – Election Time! And the games have already begun… Munchi Cama’s term comes to an end on the 5^th of July and the election to fill up this vacancy is scheduled for the 1^st of July. Anahita Desai, the wife of the current Chairman will contest these elections.

So, it is going to be Desai V/s Dastur…. Or is it?

Or is it going to be Desai V/s Mehta? Xerxes Dastur seems to be a mere front for the Mehta camp. What is even more relevant to note is that Dastur was the second choice, as far as the Mehta camp is concerned. Despite Xerxes being “extremely keen” to re-contest, the Mehta camp ignored him completely, confident that Muncherji Cama would throw his hat in the ring. However when Cama said an emphatic no, Dinshaw Mehta decided to field Dastur – the second choice candidate – against Anahita Desai.

The reason for this is rooted in the results of 2015. Dastur was one of the two candidates who spent more than the amount prescribed by the voluntary code of conduct, the other one being Viraf Mehta. This, despite both of them having voluntarily signed the Code Of Conduct, which unfortunately was not enforceable by law and thus the two candidates survived – a moral wrong but not a legal one.

Although Dastur did spend lavishly in the hope of getting elected he managed to get just a shade over 30% of the votes cast in that election. The politician Dinshaw Mehta did his math and realized that seven out of ten voters did not vote for Xerxes Dastur. Thus – the second choice!

The fact that he is going to toe the Mehta line is further borne out by the fact that it was Dinshaw Mehta who collected the nomination form for him. In fact, Dinshaw Mehta personally collected 5 nomination forms in the name of Munchi Cama, Zerxes Dastur phiroze amroliwalla, Kersi Sethna and Eric Dhatigara. The mockery that this one single act makes of the democratic process of election is deplorable.

But that is not all. Just like the last election, two candidates, Kersi Sethna and Eric Dhatigara, have yet again submitted their nomination forms.

Remember them?

The Armaity Tirandaz camp (Dinshaw Mehta), used these two candidates to attack the opposition in the most defamatory, depraved and vile manner, whilst Tirandaz kept her hands ‘clean’.

Well, well, well! The dubious duo are back! In fact, Kersi Sethna even stays in Pansy Mehta’s flat in Cama Park.

So… how will these elections go?

Other than the fact that she is Yazdi Desai’s wife, Anahita has nothing that goes against her as a candidate. But does the spouse (be it wife or husband) lose her/his identity merely because of marriage? Would the same apply to mother/son, father/daughter, brothers etc? One would think not, and yet, that will be the main issue on which Anahita will be attacked.

And that will just be the beginning – personal attacks will cross all lines of decency, (if you look back and see how Dinshaw Mehta has fought elections in the past) and Xerxes Dastur (like Tirandaz in the last election) will be what us Bawajis call ‘Doodh no dhovailo’, smile innocently and say, ‘I am not making any personal attacks – don’t look at me!’ Dastur will execute his campaign by pretending to be an ‘independent’ candidate and saying ‘I do not belong to any camp’ but he doesn’t fool me and I surely hope he will not be able to fool the community either.

God bless our community and protect us from so-called independent candidates with unsavoury links!

Rumi Shroff

 

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Re: BPP Elections

I read the Letter to Editor in PT of May 12^th by Arzan Ghadially, about BPP elections – to elect one member of the Board of Trustees. I fully agree with him about the wastage of election costs, but if we do have an election I would give my full support to Anahita Desai, who is going to contest and who cannot be deprived of her right to contest just because her husband is the Chairman of BPP! We need another lady trustee on the Board who is more compassionate than the present Trustees! Whether she is elected or not depends upon the voters who should vote with an open mind and conscience. She failed once before but let voters give her a chance and vote for this candidate to prove herself, her sincerity and honesty to work for community problems, as an Akabar!

 Thrity Mistry (Bharucha Baug)

 

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Thank You, PT!

Thank you for the in-depth coverage you have provided of the report ‘Homavazir’s 11th CBDA Scouts’ Matheran Camp’ in your esteemed weekly, ‘Parsi Times’ dated 19^th May, 2018. Our cubs, scouts, rovers and their parents, who are regular subscribers of Parsi Times, were overjoyed as they read the report and saw their photos in the weekly!

This, besides spreading the message of scouting, will certainly motivate our boys to perform better in future! On behalf of my co-scouters I once again sincerely thank you and your editorial team.

 

Hormazd E Dastur (Group Scribe)