22 July,2011 06:35 AM IST | | Varun Singh
After a lull, cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray are back to taking potshots at each other, this time over every Mumbaikar's nightmare potholes
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ESTRANGED cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray, who have been refraining from taking newsworthy potshots at each other for a while now, were back to their ferocious best yesterday.
The Sena-ruled BMC has drawn a lot of flak
as roads have been peeling off in the rains
And the issue that re-ignited their personal rivalry was one that affects every Mumbaikar the multitude of potholes dotting the city's roads.
Last week, MNS activists were out on the roads in Dadar, taking on the contractors responsible for the poor state of the roads there.
They made one contractor do sit-ups and allegedly even beat him up. Their justification was that potholes had appeared on one of the roads repaired by the contractor within three days of him finishing work.
When Uddhav, who is the executive president of the Shiv Sena, was asked about the incident yesterday, he said, "These are stunts and some parties believe only in stunts. I, however, believe in working. The BMC is working on the potholes and will soon rid the city of them."
"I won't be shameless like Rahul Gandhi (read: terror remark) and say that I can't keep the city free of potholes. We are trying our best and the city will be pothole-free soon.
Besides, you can't blame the BMC alone for the potholes. The MMRDA's construction work leads to severe road menace (traffic, potholes), but nobody pulls them up.
Their skywalks and the under-construction metro- and mono-rails have spoiled most of Mumbai," he added.
Responding to Uddhav's criticism of his party, Raj Thackeray said, "At least we are doing some stunts for the benefit of the common man, ask them (Sena) to do some stunts in filling the potholes."
"There is a blame-game that's happening. One party blames the others for everything. A chain of corruption exists in the BMC and there are hardly any roads which don't have potholes.
Where does all the money go? This chain involves corporators, contractors and the babus. If any of my corporators are ever involved in such type of corruption, I will decide what to do with him on the same road," he added.
Rs 40 cr
The BMC's budgetary allocation for pothole repair, Rs 26 crore of which has already been spent
United too
The cousins were, however, united in their criticism of the ruling Democratic Front government in the state.
"This government should go because the way they have been shirking responsibility and pointing fingers after the blasts has made it evident to the common man that he made a mistake voting for them and needs to throw them out," said Uddhav.
Meanwhile, attacking the chief minister, Raj said, "The CM has no time to meet anybody. The babus complain that he doesn't even meet his own men. One should check whether he is busy playing chess at home."
Number game
The BMC's budgetary allocation for pothole road repair for this financial year was Rs 40 crore, of which Rs 26 crore has already been spent on pre-monsoon road repair.
While the BMC claims that there are only 231 potholes left in the city from 2,436 potholes. The Ganesh mandals in the city claim that not less than 1,170 potholes still have their mark on the roads of Mumbai.
Uddhav Thackeray
These (MNS men beating up contractors) are stunts and some parties believe only in stunts. I, however, believe in working.
Raj Thackeray
At least we are doing some stunts for the benefit of the common man, ask them (Sena) to do some stunts in filling up the potholes
