Journalism of Courage
Kalmadi skips debate,public evicts stand-in
The chief of the Congress city unit,Abhay Chhajed,wont forget this debate in a hurry. Chhajed was supposed to be the standby participant in place of Congress candidate Suresh Kalmadi at a public debate organised by a citizens forum for candidates contesting the Pune Lok Sabha seat.
Kalmadis absence irked a section of the crowd which asked the organisers to remove Chhajed from the dais,though he was armed with the official invite to speak in place of Kalmadi. Finally,Chhajed had to leave without uttering a word.
The Sajag Nagrik Manch had organised the debate at school on Bajirao Road on Sunday. BJP candidate Anil Shirole,BSP contestant D S Kulkarni,MNS candidate Ranjit Shirole and Independent candidates Arun Bhatia and Vikram Bokey turned up at the venue where around 400 citizens had arrived to listen to the candidates putting forth their development plans for the city.
Chhajed had informed the organisers in advance of the inability of Kalmadi to attend the debate. He was invited to represent Kalmadi. Fifteen minutes into the debate,when it was announced that Chhajed was representing Kalmadi,a clutch of citizens flared up. They urged the organisers to get Chhajed off the dais.
The city Congress chief is present to put forth his party stand on various issues as the party candidate is unable to attend the public discussion. It is only after the consent of organisers that Chhajed attended the function and we should allow him to speak, Vivek Velankar,one of the organisers,appealed to the crowd.
But the citizens did not relent. They demanded that Chhajed sit among the crowd and not with the participants. On the backfoot,the organisers declared that Chhajed would sit on the dais but wont speak. At this,some citizens raised noisy slogans and decided to boycott the discussion,forcing Chhajed to leave the dais. Thereafter he walked off in a huff.
The citizens then turned on the other contestants,taking them to task on various development issues of the city. The candidates,however,managed to reel off their future plans.
Shirole said there was a dire need to improve public transport in the city. Kulkarni wanted a change in the alignment of the BRTS lane from the middle of the road to the sides. Bhatia said the city should undertake mega projects like a Metro Rail by seeking World Bank loans.
Bokey assured that the quality of roads will be improved if he is elected. The candidates also promised to take up slum development projects on a priority basis while pledging to resolve unemployment problem.
On the electricity shortage,all the contestants promised to raise the issue strongly and provide a permanent solution to it. The MNS candidate said he would promote renewable energy instead of pushing for non-renewable sources.
