'We need to take a vacuum-cleaner to politicians'

She is the daughter of danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai and India's pioneering space scientist Vikram Sarabhai. Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's trusted aide in the Indian National Army, is her aunt, and Marxist politician Subhasini Ali is her cousin. With such lineage, it is hardly surprising that Mallika Sarabhai's has been a consistent voice against criminalisation of politics and the communalisation of society.

Even given her lineage, it came as a surprise when she announced her candidature in the Lok Sabha elections against no less than the Bharatiya Janata Party's L K Advani from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. In an emailed interview with rediff.com, Mallika Sarabhai outlined what motivated her to take the plunge, finally.

What do you intend to achieve by contesting the Lok Sabha polls as an independent?

So many of us for so long have urged clean people to go into politics. I got fed up of urging others. So many people and groups had been telling me. So here I am.

How do you rate your chances of winning against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani? Is your fight merely symbolic?

No, it is not symbolic but yes it is. This is going to be a fight to win, but a fight that is transparent where I will try innovative means of reaching people through people and by sticking to rules and my integrity. I invite all others in the constituency to fight it as transparently. Every rupee I raise and spend will be there for all to check. I shall not resort to personal slander or to threats and bribes. The process is as important as the goal.

Winning? Let's see.

Have you felt like contesting elections before? Why didn't you? And how is the present different? You said the Congress has been offering you a ticket since 1984. Why didn't you take it up before?

I have contemplated it for years and always felt I was more effective outside the system. The degeneration in political life and the stridency of the divisive forces perhaps tipped the balance.

Why didn't you contest the Gujarat assembly elections?

I will now if I lose.

How do propose to go about your campaign? Given your background, do you plan to employ any novel methods, like street theatre? Could you elaborate?

Watch this space! Of course I have to be inventive and innovative. I have only Rs 25 lakh that I can spend and that too I haven't raised yet.

You know fighting an election is not inexpensive. How will you cope on this front? What are your plans for fund-raising?

I have made an appeal through my web site http://mallikasarabhai.in and from door to door. I am asking people who believe in this fight for a secular peoples' India to contribute and become the campaign.

Things could get dirty as the campaigning hots up, are you prepared for it?

I will have to be. I am preparing shoulders to cry on.

For many in the political spectrum the Indo-US nuclear deal is a red rag to a bull. As the daughter of one of India's eminent scientists, what are your views on the Indo-US nuclear deal?

Papa believed in nuclear non-proliferation. So do I.

What are the issues facing the electorate, in Gandhinagar and elsewhere, in your opinion?

Gandhinagar is very diverse. The rural middle class and poor; degraded lands and insecure livelihoods, urban slums with huge issues of health, lack of basic infrastructure, huge middle class who fear their safety, who don't have access to first rate education. Women across the spectrum whose issues of safety and respect haven't been tackled or even heard. Rape, murder, suicide and violence soaring -- are some of the issues.

The 2004 election was turned on its head by the aam-aadmi. What kind of result do you foresee from the 2009 Lok Sabha elections?

I repose my trust in the aam-aadmi and, equally importantly, the aam-aurat.

You said that while you are a political novice politics flows in your blood. Was the reference to Capt Lakshmi Sehgal's legacy? Do you see yourself taking it forward?

Yes, and that of Ammu Swaminathan, Anasuya Sarabhai, Mridula Sarabhai, Subhashini Sahgal and Srilata Swaminathan. And all the others on both sides of my family who may not have fought elections but spent their lives fighting for justice and an equitable India for ALL Indians.

You also said politicians have killed democracy. Democracy unfortunately is a politician's game; by aspiring to join their ranks, what do you hope to achieve/change?

Politics need not be dirty. It need not be self-serving and vile. Our current politicians have made it so. We need to take a vacuum cleaner at them.

Who among your friends and associates will be involved in your campaign?

Everyone that I can inspire and many whom I don't yet know.