The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) will hold its by-elections for filling an empty position on its six-member board of trustees on the weekends between June 19 and July 3. The position has been vacant since March 31, when philanthropy consultant Noshir Dadrawala resigned from the board citing reasons of incompatibility with the other trustees.
The list of candidates standing for the elections will be finalised by May 25, and all members of the Parsi community who are registered with the BPP will be eligible to vote at the community centres allotted across the city.
So far, the only candidate registered is Anahita Desai, whose nomination by the World Alliance of Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians, a city-based community organisation, has faced objections from the remaining board members because she is the wife of current trustee Yazdi Desai.
“We would like an independent candidate to stand for the elections and fill up this post, not someone’s husband or wife,” said Dinshaw Mehta, chairman of the BPP.
There are 30,000 Parsi voters officially registered with the Punchayet, but Mehta does not expect a large voter turnout for this by-election.
The last BPP elections were held in 2008, and the usual membership term for the team of trustees is 7 years. This will be the second by-election conducted since the one in 2009 after the death of a sitting trustee, Rustom Tirandaz.