Independent candidate Munna Lal to fight political bigwigs in Delhi polls

Sitting on a cot next to a shoe stand at a Valmiki temple, Munna Lal discusses his campaign with a handful of supporters, but he is unlike other candidates whose faces are splashed on newspapers or TV channels. Neither do loudspeakers blare his political slogans in Chandni Chowk, from where he is contesting as an independent, nor are there any garlands around his neck. His only semblance to a political leader is the starch-white kurta-pyjama he wears.

"This is the first time I am standing for any election. My aim here is to raise the pressing issues of Valmiki community. It is a shame that we continue to remain oppressed even after 70 years of Independence. I stood for this election to give a message that Valmiki community can fight its own fight and that parties can no more exploit us for their political gains," Mr Lal said.

Delhi Democratic Alliance (DDA), a coalition of activists, trade union leaders, and a few civil society groups working for the downtrodden, have fielded Mr Lal and four other candidates for elections in Delhi, in an "act of defiance" against existing parties.

"We actually fielded candidates for all the seven seats. But for some reason, applications of two of our candidates were cancelled," said Mr Lal.

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Valmikis belong to the SC community and are spread across Delhi, from Mongolpuri to Sultanpuri and Trilokpuri to Tughlaqabad.

Mr Lal, who studied till Class 10, earlier worked as a waiter and is unemployed at present.

Accusing the ruling government of the growing unemployment in the state, he said if he wins the election, his first priority will be to provide jobs and abolish the concept of "contractual jobs" from the region for good.

"There are no jobs. I am myself unemployed, so I can empathise with the people like no other. Politicians in India during election time promise the moon to innocent people, but as soon they come to power they forget everything and are busy filling their own pockets. Employment generation is at the top in our manifesto," he added.

The 37-year-old is contesting against the likes of Congress' Jai Prakash Agarwal, Aam Aadmi Party's Pankaj Gupta and BJP's Harsh Vardhan in the high-profile constituency of Chandni Chowk.

Terming this election a mere "attendance", Mr Lal said for the DDA this won't be a one-off election as they plan to form a party with the same name and contest the Delhi assembly elections next year.

He also claimed the response from people so far has been more than what he expected and there are good chances of him giving a good fight to the opposing candidates.

"Even if 50 percent of people who showed excitement on my filing nomination vote for me, have this from me, I will be giving them a really good fight," he added.

On managing funds for his poll battle, Mr Lal said: "I had made an appeal to the people of our community and they have come out and funded whatever little they could, be it through cash or Paytm. The amount is not much. But, yes, we are able to scrape through somehow."

"Also, we are not doing big rallies, ours is basically a door-to-door campaign of 10-15 people. No cars, only some two-wheelers. No pomp and show like other parties... just the bare minimum," he said.  

Delhi votes on May 12 in the fifth round of the seven-phase polling. The votes will be counted on May 23.