Meera Sanyal – Does the name ring a bell ?

Perhaps not – may be because you are not aware of some of the big names in the banking industry…or may be you are too tied up in your own world…Don’t worry…

Wait before I tell you who she is, and what she stands for….I am pretty sure you will establish a connection like many of us, by the time you finish reading this..

Meera is a professional banker with over 25 years of experience. Currently the Chairperson and Country Executive of the erstwhile ABN Amro Bank (now RBS). She probably one of the few corporate citizens to  enter the electoral foray.

As per her website

As an Investment banker she has worked both in India and within the Asian region on a number of Project Finance and Advisory and M&A mandates. In 2001, she set up ACES, ABN AMRO’s Global Shared Services company, which currently employs over 5,000 staff and provides banking operations, research, global finance, and HR shared services to 40 countries. ACES has consistently recorded both high client satisfaction and high employee engagement scores and is one of the most highly certified BPOs in India today.

An area very dear to her has been ABN AMRO’s Corporate Social Responsibility activities. The bank has financed over 7,00,000 women who live below the poverty line in rural India. Through the activities of their Foundation, which Meera chairs, they have undertaken several projects that aim both to alleviate poverty and conserve biodiversity (especially in endangered tiger habitats), as well as promote watersheds and sequester carbon through working with tribals and marginal farmers in degraded land areas.

Meera served on the Board of Trustees of an asset management company, and is currently on the National Advisory Board of AIESEC, an international students’ organization. She also chairs the boards of various bank subsidiaries in India.

Let me be honest, I knew Meera only by her name and some news clippings on various websites and today after going through her website, I feel comfortable that at last there are corporate citizens who too think that Indian politics has to change and change for the better. She has given me renewed hope that Mumbai will once again be resurgent, a city that lost its reputation for all the wrong reasons. I hope that South Mumbai will vote for a fresh, energetic and result oriented face.

Oh! By the way, did I tell you Meera Sanyal is contesting for Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from South Mumbai.

Independent Candidate ???

That’s what I thought too when she initially decided to stand for election, as I did not think she would stand a chance. But I happened to read this webpage from her site and I know now how wrong I was. She has taken the right decision to stand as an independent candidate from South Mumbai and I can’t agree more with her decision, keeping in mind the no. of corrupt and criminal politicians that we have in our country.

I was also enamored what her Facebook fans had to say about her. Read this and I am sure why you will like what you read..

When Meera will enter the Lok Sabha in June this year, she will bring to the Parliament grace, intelligence, soundness, smartness, and wit, and her astute thoughts will lend an impartiality the House has lacked.

In an election field that already has, on one hand, an incumbent who has inherited his father’s parliamentary seat in a way that does not reflect the market-driven meritocracy of this city, and on the other, a challenger whose party prefers our city to be less inclusive and more sectarian, looking less than itself, Meera offers the freshness, brilliance, verve, and bold ideas that can transform the nature of our politics and reclaim the country’s most cosmopolitan constituency for its residents.

This would mean South Mumbai, which leads India in every area except politics, would now be able to lead in political thinking and action, too. Meera is not beholden to any political party or creeds that cannot be challenged; she does not have to rush to a high command for clearance before speaking her mind, nor to a fortress in the middle of our bustling city from where editorials pour forth condemning Indians its prejudiced leaders don’t like.

I looked at what she had to offer for Mumbai and I must admit her plan to elevate Mumbai to amazing levels are simply superb. Her five point agenda, popularly called as Punch-A-Mantra talks of

• More Investment for Infrastructure in Mumbai
• A Radically Improved Public Transport System
• Stronger Security
• Systemic Reforms Through the Nagara Raj Bill…
• Directly Elected and Empowered Mayor

This agenda is covered in her Master Plan for Mumbai, which can be downloaded here

If you are living in South Mumbai and you think India needs a new generation of politicians, then go out and vote for people like Meera Sanyal. For once, understand who your true leaders are and vote for them. Meera Sanyal certainly seems to have the leadership qualities and the capabilities to take Mumbai to unseen levels…after all she has been the country head for one of the largest banks in the world.

Meera Sanyal is most definitely my Hope for Mumbai!

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Popularity: 34%