Slum votes to those who are against eviction

CHENNAI: Making their demand loud and clear to main political parties in the fray for the local body polls, a newly floated joint action group representing lakhs of slum dwellers in the city announced on Friday that their votes were reserved for those who assured them safety from forced evictions.Coordinator of the Chennai Slum Dwellers Joint Action Group S K Shiva said, “Slum people are fed up with politicians and governments, who always promise big but deliver very little”.“We have made it clear that our 8 lakh slum votes would go to those candidates (Mayor and ward councillors) who assure us that they will not encourage forced eviction of slum settlements in the city’s 200 wards in the future,” he said.He clarified that it was not an ‘order’ to slum dwellers but it was to make elected representatives more accountable to voters. “When we see the PMK’s manifesto, it promises to clean Adyar River and create recreational facilities along the banks. We see it as anti-slum policy as it could evict thousands of families who have been living along the banks of the river for decades,” Shiva said.