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Civic polls will make some, break some |
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Shubhangi Khapre |
| Besides altering the political demographic make-up of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the civic polls are also likely to change the fate of many politicians across party lines.
NCP President Sharad Pawar’s mantra to local leaders has been to use the polls to prepare the pitch for the 2009 assembly elections. Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s agenda is to wipe out the Shiv Sena from Mumbai’s map. The beleaguered BJP will try to re-establish its identity sans a good showing. And, the new kid on the block, Raj Thackeray, head of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), will try to prove his mettle without the backing of the famous Thackeray clan. Besides parties, several politicians will be also facing the litmus test. The corridors of Congress are buzzing about how the elections will determine the fate of three players – Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Revenue Minister Narayan Rane and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) Chief Gurudas Kamat. A senior general secretary says, “If Congress were to emerge as the single largest party along with NCP and succeed in replacing the Sena-BJP rule in the BMC, it will make things easier for Kamat to plead his case for a Union cabinet berth in the next reshuffle.” In fact, Kamat was a serious contender after the party’s good showing in Mumbai during the 2004 assembly and Lok Sabha polls, but Gandhi wanted him to wait and work hard for the BMC elections.” The success or failure tag will come to Rane, depending on the number of candidates he gets elected. A close Rane aide says, “Rane has drawn a list of 35 candidates. They include many rebels loyal to him.” For Deshmukh, the polls will be a commentary on his administration, which has promised to transform Mumbai into an international financial hub. For NCP, the civic polls are not limited to improving its corporator tally above 12. Pawar has urged his leaders to use the polls to consolidate the party base in every assembly segment so that the party will be prepared for the 2009 elections. According to a NCP political manager, “Our game plan is that 65 seats allotted by the Congress should fetch atleast 12 to 15 assembly seats in 2009 state elections in Mumbai.” The writing on the wall comes with a warning for Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray. He has already sounded a clarion call of “do or die” to his Sainiks. He wants them to stand up for their rights by fighting the Congress-NCP combine. Problems for the BJP are aplenty. Caught in a leadership crisis at one stage and lack of emotive agenda, the organisation is experimenting new strategies for an image make-over. |
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Slums, illegal buildings dot Wagle Estate’s horizon |
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Ashwin Aghor |
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Just two decades ago, Wagle Estate in Thane was an industrial powerhouse that churned out thousands of jobs for people who came to Mumbai to follow their dreams. But today the Wagle Estate Industrial Area is dying. Most of its industrial units have made way to slums and illegal construction. According to records obtained from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), over 80 per cent of construction in the area is illegal, and areas like Kisan Nagar are the biggest culprits. The civic administration has failed in its efforts to curb illegal construction, mainly due to political pressures. The urban decay has set in, and the area’s entire infrastructure has collapsed. Slums have now started encroaching the hills inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The TMC has failed to provide basic amenities such as water, approach roads, health-care services, education and transport facilities to area residents, says K Shashikant, a resident of Anand Savli Apartments. Whether they are slumdwellers or families from affluent neighbourhoods, they are forced to go to the Thane Civil Hospital, which is 4km away from Wagle Estate. Roads that were concretised under the Integrated Road Development Project (IRDP) five years ago by then-municipal commissioner Dr T Chandrashekhar have in disrepair. The bridge on the Kamgar Hospital Road near Vaiti Wadi has been under construction for the past 18 months, and it has now become one of the highest URL- http://digital.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?queryed=9&eddate=1/12/2007 |