'We are not spoilers, you can bank on independents'

Terming as 'absurd' the charge that independent candidates threaten stability of the Government, banker Meera Sanyal said that they are not "spoilers" and that she disagreed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's suggestion not to vote independents.

"People are saying by standing as an independent you threaten the stability of the Government.This seems absurd. There is no stability in the Government...Not a single political party would get 200 seats," Sanyal, who is contesting from South Mumbai as an independent candidate, said.

The Prime Minister recently said that the independents should not contest because they took away votes from others.

"I am standing as an independent because I don't believe the things I stand for are being represented by any of the major political parties today," she said.

So, I would not be true to myself if I were to do that and that's the reason I am not standing with the party, she said at a National Stakeholders Summit on Tuesday.

Disapproving the idea that it requires a collective effort to bring about any change, she said that all the changes throughout the history had been driven by individual efforts.

"One thing I have realised is that I am not alone. I am independent but not alone. There are many others who are thinking or doing this because it is an attempt to reclaim what is good about politics in our country," Sanyal said referring to danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, who is contesting from Ahmedabad as an independent candidate.

Sanyal also claimed that she received positive response from younger generation as well as people of her age about her entry into politics.

The banker was astonished with the fact that there was no mention of the on-going economic crisis in the country in the election manifestos of any of the political parties.

"The global economic crisis concerns me deeply. The official Government statistics says around 500,000 jobs were lost in the last quarter of 2008. The ministry of small industries, Government of India believe that several million jobs could be lost in 2009. Yet, in the

manifestos of the Congress and the BJP, there is not a single mention of the economic crisis or potential job losses or what is to be done about it," Sanyal said.

"One thing I have realised is that I am not alone. I am independent but not alone. There are many others who are thinking or doing this because it is an attempt to reclaim what is good about politics in our country," Sanyal said referring to danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, who is contesting from Ahmedabad as an independent candidate.