Candidates for Mumbai South had to field questions from residents at a ‘Meet Your Candidate’ session at Altamount Road on Tuesday.
The panel of speakers consisted of Congress candidate Milind Deora, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant and two independent candidates, Dr. Anil Kumar and Advocate Sahil Shah, all of whom are contesting this year’s Lok Sabha’s election from the Mumbai South constituency.
Mr. Deora began the session by fondly remembering his encounter with Jaywantibai Mehta of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the previous Lok Sabha election, with whom he had a healthy debate about the issues plaguing the constituency.
He said, “Regardless of which party we belong to, I think one thing is very clear: the people of Mumbai deserve the best. Mumbai is the greatest city in India and one of the greatest cities in the world. I am very proud to say I have represented Mumbai South from 2004-2014.” Mr. Deora said as a former MP, he had sought more funds for fixing the drainage network in Mumbai when floods hit the city in 2005.
The 2014 Modi wave
On the ‘Modi wave’ which swept the nation in 2014, Mr. Deora took a swipe at Mr. Sawant and his party. “I think people ignored who the candidate was, what the candidate stands for, what the candidate’s background was. People ignored the fact that even if they wanted Narendra Modi and the BJP, they were willing to vote for a party like the Shiv Sena.” He remarked that he had a clean record as far criminality goes. Mr. Sawant began by taking questions from the audience. He first addressed the criminal charges against him, saying only one has been registered, that too in 2005. However, Mr. Deora pointed to multiple criminal charges against Mr. Sawant and the Shiv Sena.
Mr. Sawant also defended the coastal road project, saying it would cut travel time by 70% and reduce fuel consumption, “therefore not risking the environment.” He also mentioned the widening of roads around Priyadarshini Park that had made it easier for visitors and walkers. He said the tide line would not be changed and that there will be no buildings in the reclaimed areas.
In response to this, Mr. Deora said, “I am very much in favour of development. We should have better infrastructure in our city, but when people are concerned about the development of the coastal road, it is not unfair to say that the municipality of Mumbai fails to give its citizens a safe foot overbridge to walk on. If they cannot guarantee us pothole-free roads, it is not unfair to ask how the BMC will build the most ambitious project of the city.”
