Desperate
struggle for power witnessed in Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
(Above) Election campaigning in Navi Mumbai
NAVI MUMBAI: The
election campaign in Navi Mumbai witnessed some interesting incidents. One
such incident was where candidates were focusing on airport rehabilitation
package issue when actually the Bombay high court had already granted
permission for development of Navi Mumbai International Airport project. These
candidates were trying to fool the project affected persons. These candidates
were promising farmers a good package when the court had already passed its
verdict relating to this issue.
These election campaigns
also witnessed many allegations and counter-allegations. Former
bureaucrat-turned-politician and Shiv Sena candidate from Belapur, Vijay
Nahata, accused Nationalist Congress Party in Navi Mumbai for trying to project
themselves as heroes and claiming to have come up with projects which actually
were funded by the state and Centre. Since Nahata was once upon a time not only
an inside man of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation but also a top man over
there, he was aware of the fact that projects like those relating to Morbe dam,
sewerage treatment plants and lines were funded by JNNURM and hence he was quick
in pointing out that NCP was wrongfully taking credit. He was able to point out
many more lies which members of NCP were trying to convey to the city
residents.
NCP replied by saying
that Nahata was wrongly accusing NCP of lying to the public and that he was trying
to go to any extent to ensure his victory in this election. NCP also spoke
about corruption that Nahata indulged in while he was civic chief but these
allegations were denied by Nahata who tried to come up with evidences to prove
that every transaction he did was transparent.
The election campaign
kept the printing presses busy day and night since they had to finish on time
the load of works pertaining to printing of election manifesto and candidates
profiles. The workers of the press had to slog overtime. There was lot of
document-preparing and proof reading to be done and this kept the workers of
the printing press stressed throughout the campaigning period. Every political
party wanted its materials printed first and the owners of the printing presses
had a tough time pleasing all the contesting parties.
Many candidates chose to
go on door-to-door campaigning. They handed to the residents their manifestos,
biodatas, party flags, caps and other paraphernalia. Some candidates chose to target
early morning and evening regulars to make their vote banks swell. They met and
interacted with joggers and walkers and senior citizens at yoga centres and
laughter clubs since this group consisted of a big number of voters who could
make a difference on Election Day.
Some candidates focused
on youth in the city. They made strategies to organize all the youngsters and
win their support. They were used to carry out bike rallies, cycle rallies and
road shows. All these tactics were found to be creating an impact. There were
candidates who focused only or rural people since they could be more easily won
than their urban counterparts.
Almost all the candidates
roped in celebrities, whether from film or political arenas, to give boost to
their chances of winning the elections. These celebrities included state as
well as national leaders and also youth leaders and film actors. This gave the
city residents an opportunity to come face to face with those like Sushma
Swaraj and Devendra Fandnavis and well known Marathi actors whom they had all
the time been watching only on television screens.
The main feature of this
election is the splitting up of major alliances resulting in multi-cornered contest.
Thus the election campaigns in the city from the day it started till date
narrated the story of how desperately candidates were struggling to keep their
chances alive in the power game.
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