Sena drops 58 corporators, Congress woos Marathis
Mumbai: Amid allegations of money-power and middlemen deciding the allocation of tickets, the main parties-Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP-readied themselves to face the electorate for the February 1 civic elections in Mumbai, Thane and eight other cities.
Till late last night, Congress leaders Margaret Alva and Gurudas Kamat and NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sachin Ahir were making efforts over endless cups of coffee at the Taj to avoid a division of anti-saffron votes. But they failed to make any headway even though the NCP had earlier agreed to accept 65 of the 227 seats offered by the Congress.
Said Patel: “The Congress was simply unwilling to even consider our claim over certain seats in Mumbai, which resulted in the failure of the talks. Even though 65 seats was too small, we accepted that in the interest of keeping the secular alliance in tact. But the Congress was in no mood to concede some of the seats we had asked for.”
Congress members blamed city Congress chief Gurudas Kamat for failing to strike a deal with the NCP. “Kamat has virtually handed over the city to the saffron combine,” a Congress office-bearer alleged.
The Congress has given tickets to a record 118 Marathi candidates. The gameplan is to divide Marathi voters, who constitute about 35% of the electorate of 83.88 lakh persons, and thus deprive the Shiv Sena a monopoly over the ‘bhumiputras’.
The Shiv Sena had been all along criticising the Congress for giving more prominence to North Indians as well as minorities, while ignoring sons of the soil. The criticism provoked Maharashtrians to rally behind the Sena. Kamat, who had the upper hand in selecting Congress candidates, saw to it that the Sena did not get a chance to once again blame the Congress for ignoring Maharashtrians.
In the last assembly elections, Kamat had played the same trick and got 17 Congress candidates elected out of 34 assembly segments in the city.
According to informed sources, the reason for the growing Marathi percentage in the Congress list is because the party gave a lot of weight to supporters of revenue minister Narayan Rane, who defected from the Sena. Most of his supporters are Marathi-speaking.
Kamat held a meeting with Rane immediately after it was clear that there would be no tie-up with the NCP and offered the maximum number of seats to Rane’s supporters. Rane has got more than 30 seats.
Despite a growing number of influential leaders from North India playing a significant role in the affairs of the state Congress, the party has given only 30 tickets to North Indians, followed by 28 to Muslims, 20 to Gujaratis and 10 to South Indians.
The NCP list is dominated by Marathi-speaking candidates, while the party has given 37 seats to Muslims, 10 to Gujaratis, 10 to South Indians and 21 to North Indians.
In the Sena, there have been quite a few revolts as the party dropped 58 of the 103 sitting corporators. Vibhag pramukh Anil Parab from the Bandra-Jogeshwari belt said, “We are yet to know how many Sainiks have revolted. But I am sure the figure will be small.”
In Andheri, Pandurang Ambre filed his nomination as the party had given a ticket to Vishnu Korgaonkar.
The MNS general secretary Shirish Sawant said, “We are deluged with calls from Sainiks who are unhappy with the Shiv Sena. We are expecting support from Shiv Sainiks in at least 35 wards. There is no question of giving tickets to Shiv Sainiks, as we had declared the list on Sunday.”
CAUGHT BETWEEN DEVIL-OPMENT AND THE DEEP BLUE LAKE Powai Residents Struggle
To Protect Environment Even As The March Of Urbanisation Continues Noise, dust and traffic congestion are the first things one becomes aware of while driving past the once-picturesque Powai Lake on Adi Shankaracharya Road. The 117-year-old lake is today polluted and surrounded by a growing concrete jungle as Powai gets caught between development and protecting the environment.
Adi Shankaracharya Road is itself part of the grand Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) project, so it is presently being subjected to an intense makeover, courtesy the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The aim is to build a smooth link between the eastern and western suburbs, but presently this important arterial connection is being put through a daily routine of traffic snarls, with hardly any place left for
pedestrians to walk, even as stray cattle dodge vehicles while scavenging for food from open trash bins.
“Once an idyllic location with a serene lake, hills and palm trees, Powai is today dusty, polluted and traffic-congested and almost all the open spaces are being grabbed to put up commercial structures,” said Powai resident Pamela Cheema, who is also a member of the NGOs Citi-Space and Action for Good Governance and Networking in India.
For many residents like Cheema, it was heartbreaking to see a green cover of over 500 trees chopped from the Shankaracharya Road side of the lake so the JVLR project could proceed. Another 600 trees towards the Indian Institute of Technology side have a date with the axe in the interest of road widening.
“We have been crying hoarse to the authorities to have an elevated road between the Gandhinagar Junction (near Vikhroli) and L&T, in order to save the trees, but that is not being done,” Cheema said.
Three years ago, close to Rs 4 crore was spent to treat the lake’s water and block effluents from flowing into it. But the main desilting work has not yet begun.
In October last year, the BMC Standing Committee cleared a Rs 7.5 crore beautification plan for the lake’s 1.6km front. It includes, walking and jogging tracks, musical fountains, colourful illumination and vantage viewing points. Interestingly, Powai, which falls in the S Ward of the municipal corporation, will be choosing only reserved candidates this year.
Both seats have been kept for women. Constituency 115, will choose a general women’s candidate, while 116 has been resrved for a woman from the Backward Classes.
The S Ward also includes Bhandup and Kanjurmarg. A host of civic problems plagues Bhandup, but here it’s a case of the same old story that is being repeated across several parts of Mumbai. Bhandup’s roads are bad and playgrounds insufficient. Hilly areas-like Ram Nagar, Tanajiwadi and Ramabai Nagar-get poor water supply. Kanjurmarg’s residents’ traffic woes would be considerably reuced when the widening of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg is completed.
Traffic and commuting are also major issues in Powai, according to Elsie Gabriel, a resident of Hiranandani Gardens and member of the MMRDA & Powai Citizens Committee.
“We only hope that the completion of the JVLR later this year will bring some relief to the citizens, along with the restoration of Powai Lake. Apart from this, many buildings at Hiranandani Gardens are experiencing water scarcity, which makes them dependent on tanker supply,” added Gabriel.
Meanwhile, S Ward officials are lobbying with private landowners to ease congestion by opening up an arterial from Powai to Ghatkopar.
While IIT has put Powai on the global map, it also boasts of being a tourist destination, with go-karting tracks, supermarts like Haiko and the ecotel Rodas.
WHAT PEOPLE WANT
Desilting of all the industrial and other waste that was once dumped into Powai Lake. Beautification of the lakefront Completion of work on Adi Shankaracharya Road, which is part of the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. Work was to finish in December, but has
dragged on into the new year, resulting in noise and air pollution and traffic congestion
Better roads and more open spaces for recreation in both, Powai and Bhandup
Better water supply to buildings in Powai and hilly areas of Bhandup
Quick completion of the widening of Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in Kanjurmarg
VOICE OVER
Aruna Thosar Dixit IIT SPOKESPERSON
‘IIIT alumni have pledged Rs 1 crore to develop the lakefront on the IIT side, the BMC also has a long-pending plan worth crores for the lake. We hope it is done.
PARTY TIME: Congress workers in celebratory mode before filing their nominations for the February 1 BMC polls
HOW GREEN WAS MY LAKE-FRONT: While 500 trees were chopped from around Powai Lake for the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road project, another 600 face the axe
due to road-widening Elsie Gabriel MMRDA & POWAI CITIZENS COMMITTEE MEMBER ‘Traffic and commuting to and from Powai are serious issues here. Powai is at present caught between development and safeguarding the environment. Many high-rises in the Hiranandani are are also experiencing water scarcity.
Hariharan SINGER, POWAI RESIDENT ‘The Powai Lake is in a pathetic state
right now. The infrastructure, roads and sanitation also need to ‘be improved here. Unfortunately, I will not be able to vote during the forthc al elections as I am going out of Mumbai.