Opposition parties in Thane have seized Uddhav Thackeray’s remarks on the roads, to lambast the ruling party of the Thane Municipal Corporation. On the event of Thackeray’s road show on Monday, he had said, “Some roads are very good. But we ignore them”.
This is against the backdrop of Maharshtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s allegations that the Shiv Sena had siphoned off funds from developmental projects. He had cited the examples of roads that have potholes every year. In spite of that, contracts are awarded to the same people. He had also said that a lot of contracts were given above the tender price.
Republican Party of India District President, Ramesh Bhale, pointed out that when Thackeray says ‘some’ roads are good, he is admitting that the rest are not. If it has taken them twenty years to provide ‘some’ good roads, do they need another twenty to fix the rest? Bhale belongs to the ‘Gawaikar’ faction of the RPI. He says that the ‘Athavale’ faction has joined hands with the Sena. The Shiv Sena has maintained power in the city for over eighteen years.
Thane District Congress Committee President Balkrishna Purnekar reacted saying that constructing roads, generating potholes, and pocketing money has been the sole policy of the Shiv Sena for the last nineteen years. T Chandrashekhar may have widened roads, but there are no footpaths and no proper demarcation today. They have only been painting fantasies of progress, much like the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘India Shining’ campaigns. The road-show also consisted of a ‘Vikasacha Rath’, part of the Sena’s campaign to project themselves as the harbingers of progress in the city. He further asked, where are the 400 crore rupees that were allotted to the corporation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban renewal Mission. Where did that money go, he demanded to know.
Bhale also declared that the Sena has only succeeded in harassing people. Putting a spin on the Sena advertisement for the polls, he said, ‘Shiv Senene lokanche haal karun dakhavale’. The only things that the common man expects today are good roads, proper garbage disposal and electricity. If they haven’t been able to provide that in twenty years, what are they even talking about?
Hussain Shaikh, who handles the affairs of the Thane Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, said that the Sena needs funds. Any contract they give out is in a fixed proportion, they keep 60% for themselves and 40% goes towards the actual project. He further added that the highways are good because they ought to be. If you look at any other roads in residential areas, they aren’t. He also alleged that every time the election nears, they will start reconstructing roads. He suggested that the work on roads being done right now is no different.
People however seem more forgiving. Radjit Yadav (26) and Vishnu Prasad (37), who work for an electronic repair shop and witnessed the road-show, said that things can always improve. But they were much worse in the past. According to restaurateur Raymond roads have improved since the last one year.
Shivshankar Maurya (59), an auto-rickshaw driver, said that he doesn’t even care about roads. ‘If I am assured of one meal per day, it is more than enough’.
A person who wished to remain unidentified said that the highways may be in good condition but those roads where common people stay remain untouched.
Thackeray had passed these remarks when asked how he found the roads in Thane, about 60 minutes into his road-show. The event which was scheduled for 11 am began only after his arrival at 12.45 pm. The party saw the show as ‘colouring the city saffron’. They declared its aim to be Uddhav Thackeray’s interaction with Thanekars and his seeking blessings from them. 13/02/2012 is penultimate day for campaigning for the municipal elections of 16/02/2012.
By Pradnya Waghule
Picture: Uddhav Thackeray’s wife, Rashmi at his road show
