Peon till last week, Sena corporator today

Mumbai: Even a month before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, he would lurk around the inconspicuous corners of the BMC headquarters, delivering letters, cups of chai to the babus, and performing other sundry chores as a peon in the civic body office, at the beck and call of the band of bureaucrats who populate it. He would barely elicit a glance from his superiors. In the matter of a month, the tables have turned, and today, 32-year-old Jitendra Walvi is the cynosure of all eyes, for resolve, gumption and a pinch of luck have catapulted him to the tip of the bureaucratic pyramid.

On February 16, Walvi won the coveted seat of a corporator, winning the civic elections from his local ward with an admirable margin of 5,517 votes.

Walvi is truly a soldier of fortune, who played the greatest gamble of his life, when he decided to quit his government job, barely four months into it, to contest the civic body elections on a Shiv Sena ticket. He resigned with barely a month to go for the February 16 elections. He won with 11,627 votes.

"It was a tough decision, and my parents were also quite apprehensive about the move. My mother kept asking me why I wanted to foray into politics, and give up a job that gave the family financial security. It was a risk, but I won only because of Bal Thackeray and Uddhavji, and the help extended to me by Sunil Prabhu and MLA Ravindra Waikar. I owe my victory to them," said Walvi.

Basking in his victory, Walvi insisted that his relationship with his erstwhile colleagues, the fellow peons at the BMC headquarters, would not change at all, once he assumed the reins of power. He said, "They are still my friends, and will remain so. Seniors from the municipal secretary's department also called to congratulate me."

Walvi's experiences at the bottom of the rungs of power have sensitised him to the plight of the class-IV staff in the establishment, and to an extent, informed some of the tasks he has set himself. "Peons and other class-IV employees face problems with their wages. I will try to make some changes in that regard," he said.

Walvi's bastion is ward number 47 in Goregaon East (Aarey Colony), an area populated by tribals. "There are no basic amenities available in our area. I will try and improve the health care facilities and the availability of water, as soon as I am inducted into the house," said Walvi.

Mrudula Kulkarni, the municipal secretary in BMC said, "He is a modest, simple and amiable man, who interacted with and befriended people in the department during his brief stint as a peon. He will now be holding a powerful post, and we will treat him with respect and obey him. We are glad he won."

Another peon who would work with him earlier, said in jest, "Now he will be telling us to deliver the letters and agendas." He added, "We have someone to lend voice to our concerns in the system now -- someone who had walked in our shoes, and will raise the issues regarding our payments, our over-time."

Another peon said, "He has inspired me to contest the elections the next time. Even I want to bring about changes in the area that I live in."

Shiv Sena MLA Ravindra Waikar said, "The Aarey Colony is steeped in problems, and Walvi was known to the locals, as he often helped them. His supporters look up to him. He is known as a helpful person, and his good reputation will help us bring change in the tribal areas in Mumbai, with over 40 hamlets which didn't even get regular water supply till last year."