With civic polls slated for Feb 2012, all parties are luring the Marathi manoos by assuring jobs for the unemployed
With civic polls slated for Feb 2012, all parties are luring the Marathi manoos by assuring jobs for the unemployed
With Brihnamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election just four months away, all the political parties in the fray are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that they are a step ahead of their rivals, and to do so, have started dangling all possible carrots to lure the aam aadmi for his precious votes.
Political gimmick? One of the posters promising jobs, installed by
Nitesh Rane's Swabhiman Sanghatna at one of the chawls near Currey
Road railway station. PIC/ Santosh Nagwekar
One of the common baits, which almost all the parties are using to hook the all-important Marathi vote bank, is the assurance of jobs for the unemployed, especially the youth.
The carrot
While Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has already put up hoardings across the city informing the Marathi manoos about vacancies in banks, almost pleading them to grab these jobs pronto.
Industries Minister Narayan Rane's son Nitesh, under his Swabhimaan Sanghatana, is conducting a job fair on October 12, wherein he has promised to give jobs to nearly 25,000 people.
Next in queue is the current ruling party in the BMC, Shiv Sena. Following the trend, it too conducted a workshop for thousands of youth at Sena Bhavan, teaching them how to appear for bank exams, interviews and others.
Political potshots
Slamming other parties for cashing in on the emotions of the Marathi youth on the pretext of fighting for securing jobs for the bhumiputras (sons of the soil), Rane said, "We are giving the youth proper jobs, not just pasting boards or conducting courses. We are providing them with jobs that will give them money to run their families. Moreover, what these parties have given the common Mumbaikar in the name of employment are just vada pav stalls."
When asked whether the job promise is just a political gimmick staged for the polls, Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray, said, "Employments do not generate suddenly during election time. This is not something that the Sena is doing for the first time. For the last 40 years, we have been providing employment to the bhumiputras of the state."
Commenting on the similar promises made by other parties, Thackeray said, "It's good, something that we started is now being followed by others too. However, just by pasting hoardings announcing vacancies won't help. People need guidance, and we are providing them with appropriate ones."
Expertspeak
According to Najmudin Bookwala, editor of mumbaibmcelection.com, a website run by Bookwala's NGO, nearly 60 per cent of voters comprise the youth. "By luring the youth with the promise of employment, political parties are expecting them to vote in their favour for the forthcoming elections. However, today's youth is educated and such gimmicks may not work," he said.
For the record
According to MNS' website, of the nearly 7.5 lakh bank jobs available in the banks in the next five years, about 45,000 would be available in the next one year. The site also hosted Raj Thackeray's photo with the slogan: 'Marathi youth Wake up.' Meanwhile, Nitesh Rane, with his promise of providing 25,000 jobs in one day, is aiming for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
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