Shailesh Kulkarni stood out among the hundreds who turned up to vote at Gundavali Municipal School in Andheri (East). Born with cerebral palsy, Mr. Kulkarni had to use crutches to reach the Sakhi polling booth. He said, “This election, the facilities are better than last time. However, there is a lot of scope for improvement.”
The staff at the booth lent their support and even offered a wheelchair, which Mr. Kulkarni politely refused. He said, “If one needs to make spaces inclusive, then one needs to think like persons with disabilities (PwDs). The overall infrastructure needs to be changed to allow us to conduct our daily lives without assistance.” He said wheelchairs only widened the difference between able-bodied people and PwDs. While Sakhi centres had chairs for senior citizens and PwDs, Mr. Kulkarni said that more chairs should have been placed in the area leading to the polling booth.
Mr. Kulkarni said that in the last five years, the disparity between the rich and the poor has only increased. He said, “The rich have become richer, while the poor have become poorer. This is what I have heard from every person I have spoken with.”