The Congress may be officially at loggerheads with the Shiv Sena or the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena,but newly-elected Congress corporator from Dindoshi Rajhans Singh wants to join hands with his Sena and MNS rivals for the development of the area. I will try and solve problems of all citizens and carry out works even if they are recommended by my opponents, he says. The 52-year-old corporator from Kurla had faced a major challenge when his party fielded him in the new Dindoshi constituency in western suburbs he faced the MNS Shalini Thackeray and the Senas Sunil Prabhu,one of his colleagues in the BMC. But the opposition was only for election. If the MNS or Sena leaders of Dindoshi come to me with a particular problem or carry out work through my funds,I will not hesitate in resolving them. Singh,known as the north Indian corporator in the BMC,had posed for cameras along with MNS leader Rajendra Lad after the win,saying,Raj Saheb helped me win. He had moved the proposal to do away with the entertainment tax on Bhojpuri movies like those on Marathi and Gujarati movies and plays,which had become a controversy early last year. One should always be jovial and light-hearted even when the opponents are castigating you. This is what I have always believed. Singh has proved wrong those who said that the Congress could never win the Dindoshi seat,an erstwhile Sena stronghold. The Sena has only done destructive development. There is no progress in Dindoshi even when its surrounding areas are seeing a major boom. People wanted change and therefore voted for me. Sandwiched between the booming Goregaon and Malad,which have several industries and IT parks along with big malls and high-end residential projects,Dindoshi has the maximum slum population. Singh says he has set a two-year time limit to provide the basic amenities of water,sewer lines and drainage system. I dont want to make false promises and raise peoples hopes. For me,the priority is to provide basic amenities to the slum areas where 90 per cent of Dindoshis population stays. Road widening,slum re-development,pushing for delayed SRA schemes along with development of open spaces and creating recreation ground/playground are the other issues on his agenda. Singh joined the Youth Congress in 1977 after being influenced by Sanjay Gandhi. Born and brought up in Kurla,Singh contested and won his first civic election in 1992. Before this win,he had lost the 1997 civic elections and 1999 assembly elections.
