Mumbai: Husband-wife duo in BPP polls leads to debate

— By Akash Sakaria | Apr 07, 2018 09:03 am

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Mumbai: On July 1, Parsi-Zoroastrian community across the world will take part in a ballot to elect a trustee in the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), their largest representative body. As the trust prepares for elections, social media forums, where members of the community debate and discuss issues, are talking about plans by Anahita Desai, the wife of current chairman of BPP, Yazdi Desai, to contest the elections. Reactions to the reports have been mixed.

Anahita Desai (52), a prominent social worker in the community, has announced that she would be contesting. The community is now debating if it is a good idea to have a husband-wife duo on the seven-member BPP board. She is the CEO of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ), which works to preserve the tradition and identity of the community. The members of the BPP board have a long history of bickering among themselves.  The past and present trustees have filed several police complaints against each other. Community member Homi Dalal says it is a bad idea to have two family members on the board.

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“She is a great person. But having both of them on the board may not be a good idea,” he said. He also added that should Anahita is elected, the decisions of current chairman will always tilt on his favour with his wife supporting on each issue.
While some believe Anahita should not have contested, some argue the contestant should be looked at as an individual and not a family relative. Former BPP trustee and Zoroastrian scholar Khojeste Mistree said Anahita has done great work for the community for more than a decade.

“She has empathy for the poor which is an important quality for a BPP trustee to have. She has a lot of integrity and has worked to improve the community. She will make for an excellent trustee”, said Mistree.


Meanwhile, Yazdi Desai, current chairman of BPP, said he would refrain from any discussions.  “Since my wife is contesting for the forthcoming elections, in the spirit of good governance and fair play, I will recuse myself from discussions and decisions regarding the procedure and logistics of the forthcoming elections,” he said through a statement in a community magazine.