In a meeting held on Sunday, Sangharsh Samiti representing the 27 vilalages reached a decision to vote against the Shiv Sena in the April 29 polls.
Rather than boycotting the Lok Sabha elections, 27 villages in Kalyan-Dombivli have decided to vote against the current Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates. Their contention is that the alliance has failed to deliver the promises made to them.
In a meeting held on Sunday, Sangharsh Samiti representing the 27 vilalages reached a decision to vote against the Shiv Sena in the April 29 polls. "They (incumbent parties) have failed to ensure development in our villages in the past 20 years. So we have decided not to vote for them. And to vote for the opposite candidate," says Gulab Vaze, president of the Samiti.
This means the boycott will help the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Babaji Patil. "We will vote for NCP's Patil," he said. However, this anti-Sena-BJP movement will not be carried over to the state Legislative Assembly elections to be held in October. "The decision is just for the Lok Sabha elections," he said.
The 27 villages in Kalyan Dombivli have a population of over 3 lakhs and have been fighting for their autonomy since the past 15 years. In 2004, they were removed from Kalyan Dombivli municipal corporation (KDMC) jurisdiction and had their own gram panchayats. In 2006, the Mumbai Metropolitan Development Authority (MMRDA) was appointed by the state government to plan their growth, but it failed to deliver. But in 2016 they were again added to KDMC against their wishes for the sake of a peaceful civic election.
The villages have been demanding a municipal council of their own as they allege being neglected by the KDMC. "While KDMC has not provided us with enough infrastructure, they are quick in levying hefty property taxes," says Gajanan Mangrulkar, a farmer from Nilje village in Dombivli.
Apart from autonomy, the residents demand 10 growth centres as promised by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2015. They also want the construction that took place in the past one and a half years to be regularized as they hung between KDMC and gram panchayats.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Shiv Sena")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}