Both civic agencies are being pitted against each other to score points with Mumbai’s voters, who will decide their fate in the upcoming BMC polls
The civic elections are turning into a nasty showdown of one-upmanship between the chief minister’s office-led (Congress) Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the BMC, which is headed by the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.
Both civic agencies are being pitted against each other to score points with Mumbai’s voters, who will decide their fate in the upcoming BMC polls. Not surprisingly, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh rushed through the bhoomipujan for 16 additional flyovers in the city. Even Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) Chief Gurudas Kamat, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the MMRDA, has turned his vitriolic attack on the BMC.
To make matters worse for the Opposition, Congress has decided to install banners and hoardings across the city to highlight mega-projects pursued by the Congress under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Congress MLA Kripa Shankar says, “The Sena-BJP rule in the BMC is responsible for Mumbai’s pathetic condition, whether it is roads, lack of drinking water or sanitation.”
Sanjay Nirupam, Congress spokesperson, says, “Unlike the MMRDA which controls only 17 per cent of the city’s infrastructure, the BMC is in charge of 80 per cent of the city infrastructure. Naturally, it is a comment on its failure for the past 10 years.”
The Congress is banking on PM Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s recent visits to Mumbai will reap rewards in the city’s polls. State Revenue Minister Narayan Rane has thrown his support behind his party’s corporators with a missionary zeal. Kamat adds, “Most development projects in Mumbai are the Congress party’s initiative, whether it is Brimstowad, Middle Vaitarna, Mithi River, Metro Railways and flyovers.”
In this game of upmanship, the Opposition is also drawing up a list of the DF government’s failures in Mumbai. State BJP President Nitin Gadkari ridiculed the Centre and state’s claims, saying, “The prime minister did make promises, but the state has yet to receive a single paisa for any city’s projects. They are building castles in the air.” Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray is also getting ready to call the Congress’s bluff on Mumbai’s make-over.
Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya says, “The Congress did not start a single project during its seven-year rule in Mumbai. When Sena and BJP were in government, they built 54 bridges in four years. The chief minister’s announcement on 16 flyovers is just a political gimmick. They boast about the Rs1,250-crore Mithi River project, but I can prove that they have not received a single paisa from the Centre. Of 50 per cent taxes collected from Mumbai by the Centre and state, they have not parted with even 1 per cent for the city’s make-over.”
The MNS is also gunning for the BMC in the upcoming polls.
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