City gets lost in poll maze
Parties push municipal issues on the backburneras internal wranglingstake
centre stage
Smita Deshmukh
Mudslinging, bribery whispers, alliance politics and emotional calls.
The civic election campaign has all the makings of a Bollywood potboiler.
But the main question remains: Is anyone addressing civic issues facing
the city after 26/7 and the serial train blasts? Shrewd campaign managers
have ensured that the issues are swept under the rug and lie on the
backburner. The googlies began with the discord between the Congress
and the NCP. The parties wasted a lot of time debating whether they
wanted to stay in their arranged marriage before parting ways right
before the elections. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena moved the debate on
civic issues such as water scarcity and bad roads to flogging die-hards
such as Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray who
flew the coop.
Amidst all this haranguing, the parties released their manifestos
except the MNS, promising to rescue the city chocking from traffic
congestion and
infrastructure failure. While the NCP promised a mosquito-free city,
the Sena-BJP combine decried MMRDA's domination and suggested that
the Mumbai Metro be run by the BEST Undertaking. The Congress promised
a garbage-free city and fiscal discipline.
"Their promises show how seriously they are taking voters,"
says former municipal commissioner Sadashiv Tinaikar, sarcastically.
"If voters are not questioning these ridiculous promises, then
they deserve bad governance." He laments that none of the parties
have long-term vision and shown any initiative to set up a decisive
policy on dereservation and urban planning. Others like filmmaker-turned-activist
Ashok Pandit say that it would be tough to get educated Mumbaikars
to vote for parties busy raking up old fights and slinging mud on
one another. "The manifestoes are completely unrealistic and
no one believes in them," he says. "Independent candidates
supported by citizens are the only way out of this mess."
But Tinaikar is far from optimistic. "Independent candidates
can merely solve immediate local issues," he says. "Big
policy decisions in the BMC are taken by party-wise people."
The worst affected in the political game of one-upmanship are NGOs,
which "advised" politicians to change the city's
future, without writing down anything on paper. "It's disappointing
to see parties engaged in power play," says Vinay Somani, convenor
of the NGO
Council. "They are too focused on their traditional votebanks,
which can be brought to the ballot booth by mere promises of 24-hour
water. The
middle-class is not on their agenda."
Are there no takers for Mumbaikars struggling to survive against all
odds? Tinaikar sees no hope, Pandit hopes proactive citizenship will
save the day
while Somani thinks educated voters are the only ones to weed out
the non-performers. Come February 1, we should know where we stand.
Publication : DNA; Section : 25/1/07; Pg: 4; Date: 25/1/07
URL : http://digital.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?edorsup=Main&queryed=9&querypage=4&boxid=30773596&parentid=33091&eddate=01/25/2007
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