Maximum City will witness one of the most interesting electoral battles fought in the history of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) this time around. To be held in 18 months from now, most of the parties have begun work to realise their dream of ruling Asia’s richest local self-government body, which has an annual budget higher than some of the small states in the country.
With the on-going cold war and the divorce that took place during the Assembly polls, there are indications that the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine may not contest the elections together. Also, the NCP has given the hint of dumping its long-time ally, the Congress, and going alone this time.
However, the most interesting aspect of the 2017 BMC elections will be to see if the Raj Thackeray-led MNS is able to dent the NCP’s and Shiv Sena’s vote banks and retain its no. 4 position in the BMC and how the Congress, the second largest party in the corporation, deals with a tricky situation as two new entrants in Mumbai’s political scene – the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Hyderabad- based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) – are eyeing its vote bank that helped the party win 52 out of the 227 seats in 2012.
Apart from the alleged corruption in the civic body, his war of words with Smriti Irani, the increasing foot prints of AIMIM in the city, and the internal politics within the city unit, former MP and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Sanjay Nirupam shares with Qasim Mehdi the rationale behind his belief that despite all the odds, the Congress will emerge even stronger this time and will put an end to the Sena’s 22-year-old dominance in the civic body.
Q: With the Congress-led government being thrown out of power after its 15-year rule in the state, and following the debacle in the general elections, the 2017 civic polls will be the mother of all elections for the Congress. Is the party ready for it?
A: The anti-incumbency factor along with the sale of false dreams by the Shiv Sena-BJP combine was the reason why we lost. They will have been in power in the state for about 2.5 years by the time the BMC elections are held. Will they be able to sell false hopes and dreams even then? I am sure we’ll be able to fare well this time and it is they who’ll be facing a strong anti-incumbency wave. The Sena-BJP led BMC has failed miserably on all fronts — be it solid waste management, water supply in the city, conditions of roads, BEST, and so on. We’ll rake up these issues, as no Mumbaikar can say that they have done an exceptionally good job in the past 22 years.
Q: Has the Sena-BJP led civic body done nothing for city?
A: The BMC has a budget of around Rs 36,000 crore, which is higher than that of eight to nine states in the country, and it has a cash reserve of Rs 30,000 crore. Instead of using it for the betterment of the city, the BMC is only interested in earning interest on the money. When there’s no cash crunch, then why is the condition of the city’s roads in a pathetic state, why are people not getting sufficient water, and why is there mess all around?
Q: You have alleged that the BMC is plagued with corruption. Are these merely political accusations or do you have figures to substantiate your claims?
A: They spent a whopping Rs 150 crore in cleaning up nullahs before the advent of the monsoon and the city got marooned in the first spell of rains. The BMC has an annual budget of Rs 2,500 crore for primary education. There are around 3.5 lakh students; so on an average the BMC spends Rs 70,000 on a single student, but look at the condition of schools. There are no sufficient teachers and the number of BMC students dropping out of school is increasing.
Q: You have also alleged huge corruption in the distribution of tablets in BMC schools…
A: You (Aditya Thackeray) meet the Prime Minister in Delhi, show him the tablet and explain its features; the PM accepts it as a gift, and the very next day the company that had manufactured the tab gets the contract. How can you go with the product of a certain company to the PM and rave about its features even before initiating the tendering process? Interestingly, the owner of the company that gets the contract is owned by the brother of a Shiv Sena MP. This can’t be a coincidence… it all seems to be pre-planned.
The company has now bagged the Rs 32-crore deal and will soon be rewarded with another contract worth Rs 250 crore for selling out-dated tablets that were manufactured in 2013. Moreover, no transparent tendering process was followed by the BMC to decide the price of the tab as top Shiv Sena leaders are involved in the scam.
While the BMC, which gets Rs 200 crore in funds to distribute 27 basic items to the students of civic-run schools at the start of the academic year, has failed to do it till date, it’s showing such keen interest in distributing tablets.
I have written a letter to the BMC commissioner, and will be writing to the chief minister too as we cannot let corruption happen in the name of digitalisation.
Q: Hyderabad-based AIMIM is increasing its footprints in the city and charming Muslim youths and Dalits, who are your traditional voters, with the ‘Jai Meem, Jai Bheem’ strategy.
A: All I want to ask AIMIM supporters is, has the party succeeded in making the government? The party is being used by the BJP to divide secular votes, and hence every vote that goes to the AIMIM is a vote to the Shiv Sena-BJP. It is a stooge of the BJP and is even funded by them to dent the Congress vote bank. The speeches made by the Owaisi brothers and the kind of politics they believe in are not favourable for secular democracy.
Q: The AAP, too, poses a major threat to your vote bank. In the Delhi Assembly polls, the party didn’t even allow the Congress to open its account.
A: There was a strong anti-incumbency wave against the Congress government that ruled the state for 15 years. However, this won’t be the case in Mumbai. The AAP doesn’t have a leader, a face, in Mumbai. No doubt they have supporters and volunteers in every area, but they are not enough to cause any major damage to the Congress.
Q: Everybody that understands and follows Mumbai politics knows that the party is divided into camps. Don’t you think internal politics within the party will hamper its chances during the BMC election?
A: Since the pre-Independence era, there have been different groups of varied ideologies that have been associated with the party. As the Congress is a huge party, it has lots of leaders who have their own following. There may be some differences, but we form a consensus on basic and common issues. However, I expect the differences to be resolved within closed doors. If I am not able to resolve the difference, then there are leaders above me… there is the AICC leadership that can intervene.
Q: There are reports that a camp from the party is working against you and is trying really hard to get you removed from the position of the city’s party president.
A: The decision has to be taken by the party leadership, and whatever their decision is, I will accept it.
Q: What is Sanjay Nirupam’s problem with Smriti Irani?
A: I don’t have any personal problems with her. The appointment of a person who is not sure of her own qualification as the country’s Human Resource Development Minister is a big question mark. It’s absolutely okay to not have a degree, as there are several big leaders who were not highly educated. However, one should be honest enough in declaring educational qualifications.
Q: There has been a case in which you and Smriti Irani made unpleasant remarks about each other and you have both filed cases against each other.
A: I can’t speak much about it as the case is sub-judice. The Delhi High Court has asked us to settle the matter between ourselves. Our counsels will meet on August 25.
