Marathi Dalit Janardhan Chandurkar is Congress Mumbai unit chief

Underplaying the rivalry within the Mumbai unit,he said,“I wouldn’t say it is faction-ridden. It is democratic where leaders often have freedom to express diverse opinion.”

The low-profile Chandurkar was picked over half-a-dozen ambitious aspirants keeping in mind his acceptability to various groups. Chandurkar,it is believed,will be acceptable to supporters of Union Minister Milind Deora,former union minister Gurudas Kamat and former MPCC chief Kripashankar Singh. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had recommended his name to AICC after consulting MLAs and MPs from the city.

Chandurkar being Marathi worked in his favour as the party would need to counter the “sons of the soil” election plank of the Shiv Sena and MNS,and it’s for this reason that a proposal for a north Indian candidate was struck down.

Chandurkar being a Dalit also weighed heavy in his selection as party is looking to counter Republican Party of India (RPI),which has an alliance with Sena-BJP.

A three-term legislator from Bandra East,Chandurkar lost the 2009 polls. During the campaign,his car was impounded by police and he was accused of distributing money to voters,allegations which he refuted.

MRCC member Rizwan Haider said,“Chandurkar will improve the organisation. Majority of workers will accept him as he is decent and does not treat politics as business or for self promotion.”

In the last election,he highlighted combating corruption in the state administration. In the Assembly always fought for slum dwellers. He had been arguing that they be given at least 350 sq ft houses to set them free free from their pigeonholes of 280 sq ft.

He had expressed serious concern over an increasing number of bureaucrats losing objectively and falling prey to corruption. Ironically,he takes charge of the post left vacant for more than a year after Kripashankar Singh was sacked after allegations of corruption.

State proposes seven new coastal police stations

To secure Mumbai and Konkan coasts,seven more Sagari police stations had been planned,home minister R R Patil told the legislature Thursday. He said this would be done in phase II of the coastal security plan for which the state would received central funding.

Phase II will also include acquiring three jetties,14 speed boats,seven four-wheelers and seven two-wheelers,Patil said. He said some boats had been rented for patrol. Some boats purchased earlier had developed technical faults,he said.

The first Sagari police station was set up in Mahim after 26/11 to keep a watch on suspicious activities on the west coast. At present,the Yellowgate and Mahim Sagari police stations secure the 140-km Mumbai coastline. Three coastal police stations under the jurisdiction of Thane (rural) police were inaugurated on March 5.

The 26/11 terror attack acted as a wake-up call for the state government and the Union home department. A plan was mooted to set up police stations along the western shoreline of Maharashtra in two phases — 12 in first and seven in second.

In phase II,Mumbai was to get only one coastal police station. However,it was later decided to set up two.