Youth for Equality picks their ' Lok Umeedwar' ex-army officer Sangeeta Tomar

Youth for Equality, famous for its anti-OBC reservation demonstrations in 2007, brought out its manifesto and announced the name of its first lok umeedwar (people's representative) on Tuesday. Sangeeta Tomar, who will contest from the New Delhi seat on a YFE ticket was chosen from among 53 "applicants'' through a three-phase screening process that included an interview, group discussion, open house debates and voting by residents. Forty-year-old Tomar was among the first batch of women officers to be commissioned into the Indian Army in 1993. She has a degree from IIM Indore and has worked as an HR manager. Her campaign a gruelling 18-hour schedule on some days is being funded through donations from YFE members who say the decision to contest from New Delhi was taken because the constituency has the most number of voters who would "subscribe to the YFE ideology''.

Tomar says it was her father who first told her about YFE and how they had started an initiative to choose a people's candidate. "I thought it was a very fair way to choose a candidate and sent in my CV. There was an interview, a group discussion and a public debate before I was chosen by the audience. It was a very different kind of experience from the usual political process.'' The Alaknanda resident says she has already covered large parts of the constituency and the response has been "very positive.'' "The way people are reacting to me and the interest with which they are listening to me is truly encouraging,'' she said. She may be facing political Goliaths of the likes of Vijay Goel and Ajay Maken but this David is confident of winning. "Why else would I be here,'' she asks. Apart from the expected pitch in favour of affirmative action rather than reservation, the manifesto includes disallowing people accused of heinous offences from contesting elections, introduction of "none of the above'' choice on the EVM and a "right to recall'' elected representatives. There is even talk about changing the system of governance to a two-party system similar to the one in the US.

Source : TOI