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This news is from the New York Times (02 03 2012) -bhuban April 2, 2012, 8:14 AM A Conversation With: Uddhav Thackeray By VIKAS BAJAJ and NEHA THIRANI Voters in Mumbai recently re-elected the Shiv Sena, and its partner the Bharatiya Janata Party, to head the city government of Mumbai, India’s financial capital. The Shiv Sena’s executive president, Uddhav Thackeray, agreed to answer questions via e-mail recently. An edited and condensed version of that interview follows: Q. Your party and the B.J.P. recently won the Mumbai civic polls in spite of a lot of criticism from Congress and Prithviraj Chavan, the chief minister of Maharashtra, about the decline of the city and their plans to revive it. Why do you think you won and the Congress lost so badly? A. Yes, we have done it again. We worked hard for Mumbai. Our campaign, Karun Dakhavla [Marathi for “We have done it”], became a tagline in Mumbai, much like Obama’s “change,” but our campaign wasn’t only selling dreams, it portrayed the work we did. It is often said that the best answer to election-time criticism and barbs is victory, and I’m glad it was big! It isn’t our win simply, but a big victory for pro-development, non-corrupt politics. We showed that even genuine work and service to the citizens can earn you their trust. The wide array of the services we provided, the work we did and the progress of Mumbai, Mumbaikars gave us their love and support. I am ever indebted to Mumbaikars, for they have given us a chance to serve them for the fourth time in a row, no other cosmopolitan city would do that. Q. What are the signature achievements of your party in this city, which it has governed for more than 15 years? A. First and foremost, a noncorrupt government, in a time when most governments in India are facing severe criticism for corruption. Mumbai Municipal Corporation is the richest body in India, true, but the services it provides are also diverse, ranging from education to sanitation, health, infrastructure, civic amenities, art and culture, transport, electricity, etc. With the constantly increasing population and demand, the civic body has been able to keep its water and transport rates to the lowest possible, when compared to other cities. We serve the poorest and the richest, young and old, selflessly. Our budget is in surplus, and of course we claim credit for keeping our city healthy, wealthy and green. Signature achievements can be the gardens, museums, water tunnels, and transport and electricity, however, all are of equal importance to me. Q. What are the priorities for your new government? What issues do you want the civic administration to focus on and address in the next five years? A. Fulfilling our promises. The Shiv Sena has a track record of fulfilling the promises it makes during elections. Our new government will emphasize education, health, roads and water supply. The virtual classroom scheme will expand to all the BMC schools now, after being highly successful in the pilot project. The Middle Vaitarna Dam, currently the ninth fastest in the world, will be ready soon and we are the only municipal corporation in India to make a dam for a city. A world-class zoo and an aquarium will be in the making soon. More civic amenities will be coming into process in the other fields. Our main aim is the citizens, the Mumbaikars, and we will focus on serving them better than the best. Q. Congress, which has controlled the state with the Nationalist Congress Party for about as long as you have controlled the city, has long played up the idea that Mumbai is a city in decline and your party is largely to blame for this. Do you agree that the city is in decline? If so, who is responsible for its decline? A. I believe that the Mumbaikars have given the Congress-N.C.P. their answer. As I said, our victory and work are the answers. The Congress-N.C.P. need to introspect. The most corrupt ministers serve in their government and they have taken the state to a rank that is deplorable. Maharashtra, when we ruled the state, was at No. 1 rank of progress, as soon as we are back, we will take it to the top. Q. Many in the business community say that they have an increasingly difficult time doing business here given the city’s poor infrastructure and the rising cost of real estate here. Some have relocated to Delhi or expanded more aggressively in Gujarat, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Do you think these are serious issues for Mumbai? What is your party’s plan to address them? A. One can’t say that. I agree the center is taxing us heavily, we as Mumbai contribute almost 40 percent of the national revenue to the country but get peanuts in return. We have constantly made a demand of at least getting back 25 percent of it for development, but it falls on the deaf ears of the central government. However, we have been successful, and all businessmen would agree, in keeping our city taxes to the bare minimum and providing the best amenities to the ever-growing city of Mumbai. Q. Analysts say the two biggest challenges facing Mumbai are the lack of affordable housing and adequate public transportation infrastructure. What do you think needs to be done to tackle these two big issues? What prevents progress on these issues? A. Yes. You’re right about the housing. The state government has been constantly bending to the pressure of the builders who use uncanny methods to bend rules and make housing schemes out of the blue, buying land and permissions at cheap rates from the state government. However, they make the housing so costly that no common man can buy. The Congress-N.C.P. culture has fostered this new social problem. In our government, we had begun various housing schemes, for all the classes in the city, right from slums to the rich, and especially for the mill workers, however, after the Congress-N.C.P. took over, the situation has worsened every year in their rule. About public transportation, Mumbai is one of the best cities for it, wherein you would get transportation at any given time in the day or night. Somewhat like New York. We as the BMC also run the BEST Buses, and they run efficiently at affordable rates. Q. Many analysts say the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, started by your cousin Raj Thackeray, is the rising party to watch in the city and state, given its strong showing in the recent election. Why do you think it did well? What role do you think it will play in the city and state going forward, especially as the elections in 2014 approach? A. I don’t give much importance to M.N.S., neither do the people. I am happy that the analysts are at least busy doing something, but I only hope they did it right. What matters at the end of the day is the work one does, not what analysts say, and that’s what exactly happened in the 2012 BMC elections. Q. A recent book about a slum near the international airport in Mumbai, “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo, paints a very grim picture of the lives of the poor in the city and their abuse at the hands of corrupt politicians, policemen and others. Have you read the book? What do you think of it? A. Haven’t heard of this book, and such books are many for each and every city, however there are better books that paint a little more reality than such books about the service provided by the governmental organizations to each and every person in the city. Governments don’t go by such irrelevant books, they go by hard work and service. _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
