Stashed in uncomfortable corners behind the posh Ram Bagh, Krishna Bagh, Gordhanvadi Tekda and Jawahar Chowk are thousands of forsaken slum dwellings in Bhaipura Talawadi, Ambedkar Nagar, Bhagyesh Nagar, Saka Rabari ki chawli, Salat Nagar and Millat Nagar. “It has been over a decade since we saw any candidate or party worker in our area during elections,” says Banuben Vaghela, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar. “No one even comes to make promises here.”

Garbage, children and cattle battle for space in the alleys of Ambedkar Nagar. The gutter lines of CTM Mill open into a pond which doubles up as a latrine for the slum dwellers. “Two men from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) came here two years ago and said there was a plan to lift the piling garbage and to build public toilets,” says Dinesh Prajapati adding “we never saw them again.”

The condition is the same elsewhere. “About eight years ago, every home in Salat Nagar slums got taps. For three years, not a drop of water has been seen in these taps,” says Banuben Solanki, who has to fetch buckets of water from neighbouring areas everyday. “Few people step into the Dalit slums, let alone candidates and their party workers. When they can forget about the non-Dalit bastis, we do not expect them to go to the Dalits at all,” says Snehal Mekvan of Sarasbagh Society.

Dinoez d’Souza, a resident of Maninagar, says, “Despite the burgeoning population, the government has not constructed any public schools in the last decade. With private schools mushrooming all around, and the dismal quality of education in both public and private schools, there isn’t much choice left for the poor people.”