Dinesh Kamath's news 'AAP is trying to gain stronghold in Navi Mumbai' that was published in Newsband

AAP is trying to gain stronghold in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The performance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi assembly poll has impressed many people of Navi Mumbai. They feel that this achievement of AAP can have its impact on Navi Mumbai too which is considered as one of the urban areas of Maharashtra. The city has many fans of Arvind Kejriwal and they are hoping that AAP will manage to make in Navi Mumbai too the kind of inroad they made in Delhi. They feel that AAP has developed a strong hold in urban areas where they are likely to win most of the seats in the next polls.

Although it was Anna Hazare who started the fight against corruption, Arvind Kejriwal is given the credit of taking the fight to a decisive end.

AAP used an altogether different strategy to win the hearts of people all over India. They made use of the social media to reach elite and middle class voters who were totally against the rampant corruption, scams and failure of the ruling party to curb rising inflation and high cost of essential commodities, including cooking gas.

The intensive campaigning against corruption by AAP has pleased the common man to a great extent. Before AAP came into picture, the common man had lost hope and was under the impression that nothing can be done about corruption that was prevalent all over in India. But the advent of AAP has made the common man certain that driving out corruption totally from the soil of India is not an impossible task at all.

Even in Navi Mumbai, AAP activists raked up issues of alleged irregularities or corruption at certain places. For example they came to the aid of parents who had differences with the school authorities who were charging high fees to the students. Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which has a strong presence in the satellite city, is not taking AAP lightly anymore. NCP in Navi Mumbai are keeping a watch on AAP’s activities in the city and is prepared to take any step to see to it that they don’t lose control over Navi Mumbai which is headed and controlled by state excise minister Ganesh Naik and his family members who comprise MP Sanjeev Naik, MLA Sandeep Naik and Mayor of Navi Mumbai Sagar Naik.

Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are hoping that the direct clash between AAP and NCP will enable them to make inroads in Navi Mumbai. They were finding it tough to take over the city from NCP and hence they are quite happy about the fact that AAP’s enormous impact on local politics has made Sena-BJP’s chances during the elections brighter than before

Sena had always been trying to take on Naik clan and NCP in the city. But now it could be triangular affair with AAP, Sena and NCP in the fray to gain stronghold in the city. The Congress party in Navi Mumbai cannot be taken lightly too since it is keeping a close watch on this new development and trying to capitalize on it. Maharashtra Navnirman Party too cannot be underestimated.

It is true that Naik family has a huge following in Navi Mumbai but AAP has managed to win the trust of elites, intellectuals and common people of the city and this development can prove to be a threat to Naik family. The fact that Navi Mumbai today is not what it was in the past owing to the migration of many educated people to this place gives an advantage to AAP which is just banking on the support of such types of people. If any party can change the political equation that exists in Navi Mumbai today, it is none other than AAP.

As far as Navi Mumbai is concerned, AAP wants to go step by step. It is concentrating on forming a strong cadre base in Navi Mumbai. It has already started taking up issues and problems of common people in the city. AAP leaders are aware of the fact that just becoming well known at national level is not enough and that they will need to pay attention to state and local issues too. They are likely to prepare themselves for both general and state assembly elections which are to take place this year.

There is no doubt about the fact that AAP has managed to give a fright to other well known national parties like NCP, Congress and BJP. These parties fear that AAP might perform in other urban areas just like it did in Delhi. Hence these parties are unwilling to take any chances. They had paid a price when it took AAP too lightly during the assembly poll in Delhi. They will certainly not want to repeat that mistake again.

AAP is not sitting quiet too. In Navi Mumbai, AAP had been quite active even before its victory in Delhi. After its achievement in Delhi it is not leaving any stone unturned in this satellite city too to garner as much votes as possible in the forthcoming elections. It has even begun to invite applications from the candidates interested in contesting election. It is already on the look out for good candidates and financial support.

Naik supporters in Navi Mumbai were taken by surprise twice. The first time was when Narendra Modi took a plunge into the national political arena and he became a craze with many voters. The second time was when AAP outclassed a mighty party like the Congress in Delhi and thus won the hearts of common people all over the country. They fear that Sena-BJP or AAP might turn the tables on them in Navi Mumbai.

AAP, in fact, has already started its battle against the local NCP. This was evident when just recently it accused NCP leader Ravindra Ithape from Nerul of indulging in power theft. AAP alleged that Ithape was using streetlights to procure power supply for his daughter’s marriage function. AAP is also in possession of video footage of the power theft. This new party has threatened to take the case to logical end in typical AAP style if action was not taken against the NCP leader.

This is just one of the many issues AAP in Navi Mumbai has taken up. It is clear that supporters of AAP in Navi Mumbai are very much buoyed by the success of the recent elections. The astounding show of AAP in Delhi has emboldened them to register their presence in Navi Mumbai too. They have already started working out the election strategies. They are adopting methods like personally interacting with all the Navi Mumbai voters by doing door-to-door campaigns. Also, their strong anti-corruption stand is being vociferously welcomed by the people in the city. There is a huge number of online registrations taking place to join AAP. Some of the local issues that AAP aims to talk about in their coming rallies are corruption and squandering of public money by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), bad roads, unaffordable housing due to grossly overpriced realty market and general inflation. AAP is conducting a scientific people survey in Navi Mumbai to know what are the other difficulties faced by them. The fact that Navi Mumbai is inherently cosmopolitan by nature and almost literate is an advantage for AAP. Just recently, it also organized a bike rally in the city as part of their awareness drive. AAP workers are determined to show the true strength of the common man in Navi Mumbai too.

Thus it is clear that the local AAP workers are sure about where they are heading towards and are moving confidently in that direction. This attitude of AAP is giving sleepless nights to local NCP, Congress, MNS and Sena-BJP leaders. One will have to wait and see as to which party will win the battle in Navi Mumbai ultimately.