Politicians used us for their own publicity: Mumbai Campa Cola residents

Tension and chaos marked the beginning of the demolition process at Campa Cola compound in Worli Though several politicians showed their support for the residentsrsquo cause over the past month very few actually came to the site on day one of the demolition Support or publicity BJP MLA Gopal Shetty top left state BJP treasurer Shaina NC and corporator Makrand Narvekar were among the politicians who were present at Campa Cola compound yesterday PicsSatyajit Desai Residents say that apart from hogging the limelight and indulging in selfpromotion no politician could produce any result to save their homesu00a0Campa Cola over the last few days has turned into a mini parliament with numerous politicians from various parties making appearances Leaders like Milind Deora minister and Congress MP Priya Dutt Congress MP Sachin Ahir housing minister and local MLA of Worli Bala Nandgaonkar group leader MNS in Assembly Rahul Shewale BMC standing committee chairman Dilip Patel group leader BJP Mayor Sunil Prabhu Dnyanraj Nikam former BMC opposition leader and Anil Desai Shiv Sena MP failed to turn up at Campa Cola yesterday Rahul Narvekar Devyani Jayakar resident of Orchid building at the compund said ldquoDuring the initial days there was a queue of politicians at our doors Even on Monday night many showed up But today when we needed them we saw only a handful of people The regular faces were gone Even those who were here seemed as if they were here for the cameramen shooting pictures not for usrdquo Desperate Anxious residents refused to let BMC workers and police enter their gates for the impending demolition PicsSatyajit Desai Another resident who didnrsquot wish to be named said ldquoThe emotional connect was missing The politicians in no way seemed to be bothered about our homes Every leader wanted the world to know what they were doing to help us and how they were meeting the chief minister and every other top leader But no one actually did anythingrdquo Even the CM was not spared their ire ldquoWe were expecting that the CM would hear us but he also turned out to be a politician who did nothing He kept our case in limbo till the last moment and finally apologised and asked us to cooperate in getting our homes demolished We have been let down by the political classrdquo added an angry Sunanda Verma At the site BJP MLAs Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Gopal Shetty state party treasurer Shaina NC Shiv Sena spokesperson Rahul Narvekar and BMC law committee chairman Makrand Narvekar were seen protesting against the demolition But their presence meant nothing to the families ldquoThe politicians came to us as per their convenience For example a local MP was mostly out of town when we were struggling to fight our case None of them took us to the CM till the last moment We used to read in the newspapers how they were making claims what they had done But nothing happened They got their share of the limelight and we are now homelessrdquo u00a0Sachin Ahir state housing minister and local MLA of Worli who wasnrsquot there during the protest said ldquoBeing a part of the government and a minister I canrsquot come out on the streets against the government However I am still with the residents in support of their causerdquou00a0 Sena spokesperson says We did what we felt was morally right unlike the other leader who stood with residents till yesterday but vanished today This is not an issue from which we would like to gain mileage We have been supporting the residents since day one and will continue doing the same Our support is genuine unlike the Congress CMrsquos who didnrsquot act in favour of the residents mdash Rahul Narvekar who was detained by the police for a while It39s unfortunate that Shivsena is agitating alongside a builder when builders amp BMC created this mess in the first place Regardless of our differences can ALL parties at least agree to keep builders away from Campa Cola It39ll only help their cause Maha39s CM must also clearly state his intent amp ability or legal inability to help Like residents Irsquom growing increasingly wary mdash Milind Deora on Twitter milinddeora Out of all the political leaders who have been coming in for almost a month hardly anyone showed up And the few who showed up only came to make a big show of their support mdashDevyani Jayakar a resident of Orchid building in the compound living on the 12th floor Some politicians came here to show us the support and never ended up coming when they were needed All their promises have proved false mdashSunanda Verma resident of Midtown apartment We did what we felt was morally right unlike other leaders who stood with residents till yesterday but vanished today This is not an issue where we would like to take mileage from mdash Shiv Sena spokesperson Rahul Narvekaru00a0