Villagers from Vasai say no to corporation rule

Shramajivi Sanghatana’s Vivek Pandit has won the Vasai assembly seat with a margin of 16,737 votes after defeating Bahujan Vikas Aghadi’s candidate Narayan Mankar.
The controversial issue of inducting 53 villages into the jurisdiction of the newly-formed Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC), and the  protest against this move, proved fruitful for Pandit. The state formed the VVMC in March and inducted these villages in the civic corporation.

After the move, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi’s legislator Hitendra Thakur and newly-elected MP Baliram Jadhav had to face the ire of villagers. For two days in August, Vasai saw violent protests. Pandit started an indefinite hunger strike against the induction, and ultimately, the government had to take note and appointed a committee to review the move.

The Gaon Bachao Aandolan Samiti, which was formed to protest against the VVMC, offered support to Pandit on the condition that he would have no truce with the Sena or other parties. Pandit agreed and polled 81,249 votes, while his rival Mankar got 64,512 votes. “I will now ensure that villages don’t come under the ambit of the VVMC,” said Pandit.