In the first part of our deep dive into Mumbai's Lok Sabha constituencies, we turn the focus on South Mumbai, where issues like evictions from port trust land, effects of the coastal road and housing will decide if a resurgent Milind Deora can unseat
Sena's Arvind Sawant and Aaditya Thackeray
With voting day barely a week away in the city, Mumbai South constituency, considered the heart of the city, has turned into a verbal battlefield. Newly-appointed city Congress president Milind Deora is going all out against sitting MP Arvind Sawant, as part of his campaign. Deora has alleged that Sawant merely brushes off responsibility on to local corporators, claiming that his job is only to represent the constituency in the Parliament.
Milind Deora, the Congress's Mumbai South candidate, seems determined to bring back the glory of 2009 when the Congress had won all six seats in the city. The former MP has been pointing fingers at the sitting MP Arvind Sawant for his failure in taking the constituency's issues to the Lok Sabha.
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"I expected him to raise important issues in Delhi like the port trust eviction but he began talking about it only recently. He should have spoken about the coastal road, housing, DP plan among others. He is supposed to talk about issues that affect local people but he only speaks about issues that favour him," Deora alleged.
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Cong's Milind Deora
The 42-year-old also said that the Sena candidate had tasted power only owing to the Modi waves in 2014. "People had voted for Modi then, not for the candidates. The MPs came from questionable backgrounds with no connections with the grass-root people," added Deora.
For Congress, the real challenge is to revive the grand old party post-election. "The real work will begin after April 29. We will make Mumbai Congress an important point of contact for the Mumbaikars' voices to be heard regardless of the area they belong to, their religion or linguistic background. We will make Mumbai a place where everyone's voices are heard," Deora assured, hinting at the saffron party's religious biases.
Sawan't first tenure
In 2014, Sawant had received 3,74,609 votes and won the seat with a margin of 1,28,564 votes. The Mumbai South constituency has around 15.81 lakh voters that recorded almost 53 per cent turnout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, highest since 1991.
Over the recent incident of the CSMT bridge collapse, Sawant had said that as an MP, he was only responsible for representing his constituency at the Lok Sabha and had no role to play in the city's development.
"I have raised the issue of the Port Trust and also got an assurance from the government. As an MP, I am here to give a voice to Mumbai at the Lok Sabha. It is not my duty to look into bridge audit or fire safety. It is the responsibility of the corporators," Sawant had said.
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Mumbai South issues
Owing to rapid development in the constituency, areas like Parel and Lower Parel are facing massive congestion. The Elphinstone stampede incident of 2017 highlighted how unorganised development has affected the financial hub of Mumbai. The lanes have become narrower leading to heavy traffic congestion. Water logging turns it into a nightmare during monsoons. Residents thus expect a holistic approach to development. Radheshyam Brahmadeo Mishra, a 59-year-old resident of Kalachowki, said, "Sawant had promised to provide a voice to Mumbai's residents but what has he done so far? The Mumbai Port Trust eviction that would make thousands homeless has not been addressed yet."
LS election 2014 data
Voters: 15.81 lakh
Male voters: 55.79%
Female electors: 44.21%
Votes cast: 7.79 lakh
Voter turnout percentage: 52.49%
A criminal MP?
On Monday, Deora referred to the criminal charges against Sawant and asked voters if they wanted to be represented by a person with such a record. "People of South Mumbai have to decide whether they would like to be represented in the Parliament by an individual who has a criminal record that demonstrates his disregard for the law. Can such a person be sitting in a Parliament representing the socially-conscious and economically-prestigious South Mumbai voters?" Deora questioned. The Election Commission had this year made it mandatory for all candidates with criminal records to publish the same in three newspapers/dailies. "Sawant should immediately place his advertisements and honour the Election Commission rules," Deora added.
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