Indian-origin candidate for London Mayor Tarun Ghulati addresses a gathering in London. | Photo Credit: PTI
As London goes to the polls on May 2 to elect a mayor, Delhi-born Tarun Ghulati is among the 14 candidates for voters to choose from. Mr. Ghulati, an investment banker and strategic advisor, is running as an independent to “encourage the free flow of ideas and policies without party ideology and bias”.
“People don’t know whether to heat or eat,” Mr Ghulati told The Hindu on the eve of the election, describing the cost of living crisis. He hopes to bring his finance background to create funds for London.
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As part of his plan, Mr. Ghulati said he would want more “bobbies (police) on the beat” .
“But of the right kind,” he adds, meaning they should come from diverse backgrounds to understand the cultural nuances of the communities they police. Not unlike the Conservative candidate Susan Hall, he wants more localized policing, by increasing the number of police booths in the city.
Like other candidates, Mr. Ghulati’s formula for making housing more affordable in London includes rent-control laws in areas undergoing gentrification and changing land-use regulations. He also wants to reduce the amount of congestion charges paid by car drivers using London roads.
“You don’t need politicians who blurred the vision for London and have failed London, “ Mr. Ghulati said, when asked if London was read for a foreign-born Mayor.
“I speak several languages and and understand the cultural sensitivity of people,” Mr. Ghulati said adding that his Indian upbringing taught him to believe in the notion of the world as one family, which he described as ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, a Sanskrit phrase also used by the Modi government in its foreign policy references.
Emphasizing that he was committed to all cultures and communities, Mr. Ghulati voiced his support for civilians in Gaza during his call with The Hindu, describing the bombarding of Gaza as “carnage and genocide”.
“I’ve been asking the leaders to go off to the Rafah crossing or Gaza and see the bodies and the mass graves, just as they went to Ukraine,” he said. The Israel-Palestine issue has become a point of tension in London, with near-weekly protests and counter-protests, as in many other world capitals.
“I want all Londoners to live in harmony,” Mr. Ghulati said. He also dismissed the opinion polls, which show incumbent Sadiq Khan well in the lead, followed by Ms. Hall and the candidates from the Lib Dem Party (Rob Blackie) and Green Party (Zoë Garbett).
