Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Surinder Singh Bajwa

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Keep (non-admin closure) The consensus below is that the deputy mayor of Delhi is inherently notable despite WP:BIO1E concerns. Darkspots (talk) 02:19, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Surinder Singh Bajwa

Surinder Singh Bajwa (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) (delete) – (View log)

Delete Not notable. He is listed here solely for the unusual single incident that precipitated his death, not for any notable contributions to Indian politics or legislative policy. Ecoleetage (talk) 20:43, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

• Keep. A position such as deputy mayor of a large city like Delhi (more people than some states or provinces) probably indicates notability. --Eastmain (talk) 21:11, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. —Eastmain (talk) 21:11, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of India-related deletion discussions. —Eastmain (talk) 21:11, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
• comment deputy mayor of Delhi. I dont know the local political structure, so I can not say if the office is notable--some places it might be, others not. If it is, hen information about other aspects of his career can be added. DGG (talk) 21:17, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
• Comment As I learned to my chagrin (by nominating one, only to be accused of anti-Indian bias), Indian cities are managed by civil servants (municipal commissioners) via a federalized meritocratic system. Mayors and councillors seem to have non-trivial political influence, but they are nothing like the strong mayor system in some Western cities. Some US cities have a council-manager form of government with a ceremonial mayor who may also preside over the council, and I think this is the closest analog. I'm even less sure where a deputy mayor falls in this context, but it may be close to the vice presidency of a city council. Anyway, for cryin' out loud, the least we can do is put his death in context. Monkeys are a serious pest in Indian cities. --Dhartung | Talk 21:24, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
• Delete per Dhartung's comment about the deputy mayor. If that is indeed a true statement, the guy really doesn't have that much notability. Tavix (talk) 21:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
• Keep His position in a city of the size and significance of Delhi makes him notable, as far as I can tell - this position seems to clearly be high profile, if not as high profile as the mayor of New York, London etc. There are multiple, non-monkey related, sources available with just a quick Google search for "SS Bajwa", including this one which mentions that he was the Delhi senior vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party also. I am not particularly knowledgable about Indian politics, and I would certainly not accuse anybody of bad faith here, but I think that there is a risk of systematic bias here. TigerShark (talk) 23:37, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

• I do also note that the current mayor (Arti Mehra) does not have any article, and would suggest that one should be created. TigerShark (talk) 23:37, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I would not haver the least doubt about the mayor of Delhi, but he was the deputy mayor. It isn't reasonable to assume its's anywhere near as important as the mayor. And of course we should have an article on the mayor. If you have sources available, justwriteityourself. DGG (talk) 01:25, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

• Speedy Keep. High political office in a city of 12.8 million people ((22 million metro area) automatically makes this person notable. Even if the position is largely symbolic (which I do not know), this person is still sufficiently notable to have an article. Mostlyharmless (talk) 03:44, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
• Comment I'm more confused than ever. It was a problem for me the last time that we didn't have an article on the municipal commissioner position in India, and we still don't. Municipal Corporation of Delhi is a well-nigh hopeless cut-and-paste job. I did determine that the MCD governs about 13 or 14 million of the people in the capital territory (which has its own state-like government, while New Delhi has its own municipal council as well!). Bajwa was Deputy Mayor to Arit Mehra, whom TigerShark identified. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are both indirectly elected by the councillors (vote totals). According to the NPO City Mayors, The Mayor generally lacks executive authority. This is due to the British roots of the system that remain from the time when the administrator was the representative of the colonial power, not to the fact that it operates under a council-manager system The Deputy Mayor has no powers except to act in the Mayor's absence. (On the other hand ... 13 million people.) --Dhartung | Talk 06:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
• Keep. I know there's an essay that says we shouldn't use WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS as an argument but I think it's a perfectly good argument here. If we have any intention of being taken seriously as an encyclopedia then how can we keep articles on bands that have singles that scrape into the charts and footballers who play one match in League 2 but not a deputy mayor of Delhi? This is just the sort of thing that makes Wikipedia a laughing stock in some quarters Phil Bridger (talk) 22:02, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

• Keep (I didn't want to vote, see above, but if it will help a consensus form I will). I'll revise the article to clarify his role as a ward councillor representing ~49,000 people. --Dhartung | Talk 19:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.