New Delhi: A new political party is centring its election pitch around environment protection, climate-smart conservation, and sustainable development amid the heated political campaigning ahead of the last leg of the Lok Sabha election.
Fighting on three seats across the country, the India Greens Party is marketing itself as the only “green political party” in the country. In its election manifesto, it has highlighted detailed plans for sustainable urban growth, groundwater recharge, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and forest conservation, among other issues.
Despite the understanding that it may not be able to compete with the mainstream political parties, India Greens Party founder Suresh Nautiyal said his party remains resolute. Acknowledging that its candidates might even lose their deposits, Nautiyal said the primary goal is to push environment protection and sustainability into the political discourse.
“Perhaps, the major parties will draw inspiration from our manifesto. If we successfully bring these crucial issues into the mainstream political debate, it will mark a significant milestone for us,” said Nautiyal.
The India Greens Party will build itself as an influential political opponent over the next 15 years, said Nautiyal. “Climate change impacts everyone. This is the most important subject in the current times. Our political parties need to take it up seriously,” he added.
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Shaping larger political discourse
The India Greens Party was registered in 2019 by like-minded individuals working in the health, sanitation, gender justice, and sustainability sectors. They came together on six primary principles — ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, non-violence, sustainability, and respect for diversity.
The three candidates in the poll fray are Sarika Dabral (Mumbai North West), Harpreet Kaur (Sangrur, Punjab), and Bihari Lal Jalandhari (South Delhi).
Dabral, the party secretary-general, is a former teacher and an environmental activist. She has actively participated in the Save Aarey movement against chopping down of trees for Metro work in Mumbai.
Kaur is the party co-president, pursuing a Master’s degree in social work. Jalandhari is a social activist and national council member of the party.
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Demand for green manifestos
Many citizen groups have pitched environment protection as a poll agenda over the last few elections. For instance, in Delhi, where high pollution has become an annual crisis, voters have come out with their own ‘green manifestos’ for candidates.
In April, the Green Circle, a Delhi-based environmental group, released a green manifesto for political parties, demanding action on reducing pollution, promoting green transport modes, upkeep and maintenance of water bodies, and laws on waste management, among other things.
V. Selvarajan, the chairperson of the Dwarka chapter of Green Circle, said that the green manifesto included suggestions from NGOs, environmentalists, and citizens. He said that the group has been presenting its charter of demands to all the candidates standing for elections at various levels over the last few elections.
“We have noticed that since we started preparing and presenting our green manifestos to political candidates, they have also started incorporating campaign conversations around environmental issues,” Selvarajan said.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party pushed for electric vehicles, renewables, and green hydrogen, and the Congress manifesto emphasised increased investment in green projects and forest cover assessments.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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