Issues plenty,strategy novel

Unlike other constituencies of Mumbai,the most pressing problem facing the residents of this constituency is that their houses are built on forest land — a matter that is to be decided by the Supreme Court. The constituency has six Assembly segments — Mulund,Bhandup West,Vikhroli,Ghatkopar East,Ghatkopar West and Shivaji Nagar-Mankhurd. And each of them has a different set of issues.

The constituency has the elements required to make it a diverse one,the upper middle class and the middle class. It has a mixed populace of Maharashtrians, Gujaratis,Dalits,Muslims and North Indians. And different political parties are dominant in different Assembly segments.

Assembly segments like Bhandup,Mulund and Vikhroli have the forestland and load-shedding issues on top. Interestingly,these are the only suburbs in Mumbai,which are facing loadshedding. In spite of assurances from Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde — who had been the chief minister and energy minister of the state — and from Dilip Valse-Patil who held the energy portfolio for more than four years,the problem could not be solved.

The stretch along the LBS Marg from Ghatkopar to Mulund has seen immense real estate boom. “Suburbs like Mulund and Bhandup have seen multifold growth in population over the past decade,but they still face the problems of basic infrastructure like water and electricity,” says Prakash Paddikal of Hill Road Welfare Association (HIRWA),a Mulund-based NGO.

The Assembly segments of Ghatkopar are one of best-connected in the city and have seen the maximum infrastructure development activities. Apart from the Metro railway,road projects like Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Projects (MUIP) have also been undertaken here. “But the suburb is in a real mess. Half of the infrastructure projects are incomplete,” says Dhiren Shah,a Ghatkopar resident.

Segments like Shivaji Nagar-Mankhurd and part of Ghatkopar East (Ramabai Nagar) face problems of infrastructure building. Since these areas are better connected owing to the Eastern-Express Highway,real estate developers consider Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road and Sion-Panvel highway as a goldmine.

Several redevelopment and slum rehabilitation projects are under progress,but the area still lacks basic amenities. Huge pockets of slums like Ramabai Nagar and Kamraj Nagar (Ghatkopar East Assembly segment) are reeling under water shortage. The case is similar in slums of Shivaji Nagar-Mankhurd and Govandi.

“Redevelopment and SRA projects are in a limbo. Even if the people are rehabilitated from slums to buildings,space constraint and hygiene will continue to haunt them,” says Shakti Bhise,a Ramabai Nagar resident.

Mumbai Northeast
* 15.71 lakh voters
* Middle and upper middle class,with slum areas
* Who’s contesting: Kirit Somaiya (BJP),Sanjay Dina Patil (NCP),Shishir Shinde (MNS) and Ashok Singh (BSP)
* Political history: It has never elected any candidate for the second consecutive term except Subramaniam Swamy,in 1977 and 1980. Gurudas Kamat of the Congress had represented it four times (1984,1991,1998 and 2004). Senior BJP leaders Jaywantiben Mehta and Pramod Mahajan have also represented the constituency.
* Impact of delimitation:Trombay and Anushakti Nagar excluded.
* Watch out for: Ashok Singh could eat into the votes of Sanjay Patil while Shishir Shinde could harm the prospects of the Sena-BJP.