Journalist Secures Victory in AAO Election

Kavita Sharma, a well-known journalist from both broadcast and print media, has won the Association of Apartment Owners (AAO) board member election for the Kosmos society located in Jaypee Wishtown, Sector 134, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The AAO elections at Kosmos, held for the second time in two and a half years on July 27 and 28, marked a significant first: never before had a journalist residing in the society contested, let alone won, an election. Kavita Sharma, representing the Helping Hands group, secured a convincing victory, ranking third among the nine board members elected for a one-year term.

“Initially, I was not interested in contesting the election. I have neither a political background nor any political ambitions. It was due to the encouragement of some active members of my society, like Pushkar Singh, Alok Sharma, Naveen Kumar, Prabodh Shukla, and Kalpana and Sunil Bhardwaj from Helping Hands, that I decided to run,” Kavita told Tehelka. She further described her victory as a significant responsibility to work for the betterment of Kosmos society.

Kosmos was buzzing with election activities for the last two months. Two groups, Helping Hands headed by Sunil Sharma, also known as Sunil Bhardwaj, and United Kosmos Front (UKF), were in the fray. From dawn to dusk, the groups campaigned vigorously on various WhatsApp groups and through door-to-door meetings in different towers. Despite facing resistance on issues like the poor condition of some towers, the Helping Hands team, which also won the last election, managed to have all nine of its members elected for the second consecutive year to run the Kosmos society.

Why did Helping Hands win the AAO election for the second time despite resistance from various quarters? A Kosmos resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, attributed the victory to the relentless efforts of Helping Hands’ volunteers. The resident highlighted the pivotal roles of Pushkar Singh, Brijesh Singh, Alok Sharma, Ankur Khanna, Ankit Bhardwaj, and Nitesh Priyaranjan.

Another resident, also speaking anonymously, mentioned that Kosmos society, which has a significant Muslim population, saw substantial support for Helping Hands from the Muslim community. Residents like Ashfaque Ali, Rais, Imad, Mushtaq, and Mujahid worked hard to convince Muslim voters to support the group that promised to work for the society's betterment.

With the elections over, it’s time for work. Helping Hands now has one year to prove that they can deliver on their promises, including much-needed plaster and paint work on the towers, which residents are eagerly anticipating. Meanwhile, UKF has a year to introspect and address what went wrong for them before the next election.

The nine Helping Hands members who won and are now looking forward to their new roles are Sunil Sharma, Ravi Shankar Kumar, Kavita Sharma, Shalini Rana, Dharmendra Kumar, Sachin Bajpai, Devendra Singh Yadav, Rahul Kumar, and Asad Anwar. Shalini Rana joins Kavita as another woman representative for Helping Hands.

Kavita Sharma’s area towers put a tough challenge for Helping Hands, but sources say Kavita Sharma’s efforts from this area made the fight easier for her group, even managing to secure some UKF votes.