What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
24-year-old Shivani Panchal, AAP’s candidate from Rohtas Nagar (ward number 223) in North East Delhi is one of the youngest candidates to enter the election ring in the upcoming civic polls.
A highly qualified candidate, Panchal is currently pursuing Masters (Msc Math) from Delhi Technical University. She did her Bachelor’s in Mathematics (Hons.) from Vivekanda College.
“My uncle Shakti Panchal, who was associated with the AAP leadership since Anna Hazare’s Lokpal movement has been a big inspiration for me. My father too has been a political and social worker all his life. The quality of ‘sewa bhav’ or service towards people has been ingrained in me since my childhood,” she tells The New Indian.
Panchal, comes from a lower middle class family. Welding is her family’s traditional business. She has grown up amid economic hardship and earned her own money giving tuitions to children while pursuing her own education.
The pain of seeing her father die of throat cancer last year strengthened her resolve to enter politics to serve people. “I have seen my family members struggle for basic facilities like heath care. When my father was ill, we we reached out to counsillors. But no one really helped us.”
Panchal is going door to door with the plea of “aapki beti ko ek mauka de” (give one chance to your daughter). “I am a daughter. And if people vote for a daughter she knows how to take care of her family members,” she says.
During her campaign trail she endears people by addressing them as her close relatives. “Whenever I campaign I address voters mataji, bua, didi as my relatives and listen to them. It is very necessary to listen to your voters if you want to solve their problems.”
She has identified some crucial areas in which she feels BJP, that has been ruling MCD for over 15 years has failed to deliver. “Look at the garbage dump, the potholes – dens of dengue and malaria. Is this progress? What has the BJP given us except for carcinogenic mounds of garbage?” she questions.
If she wins she says she would work towards bringing MCD-run school at par with those run by the Delhi government. She also promises to start Nagar Nigam health service in every street. Cleanliness, she says would remain her top priority. “Also, fixing the roads and maintaining them is necessary. How will my the elderly in my family walk on such dilapidated roads. We need to make life easy for people of all age groups,” she says.
Panchal is an out and out family girl. She lives in a joint family with her grandmother, mother, two brothers and her uncle’s family. All members of the family are backing her and putting every bit of their energy in ensuring her victory.
Her grandmother, whom Panchal calls her inspiration gets emotional during this interview. “I wish everyone gets a granddaughter like her,” she says.
“We have built a life from nothing. When we started we had no money. Today I am thankful to God that we have enough to sustain ourselves and that we have a daughter like her.” she adds.
The 250-ward Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is currently being ruled by the BJP will go to polls on on December 4 and the results will be declared on December 7, 2022.
