Kamat pitches for Dalit vote

February 18: After the July riots, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar at Ghatkopar east was bustling with activity of a different kind. As Gurudas Kam...

February 18: After the July riots, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar at Ghatkopar east was bustling with activity of a different kind. As Gurudas Kamat, Congress Party candidate from Mumbai north-east, toured the slum and its adjoining areas today on foot as part of his poll campaign, the mood was set for the usual bout of handshakes, sloganeering and flag waving.

The area has a population of over one lakh, with 50,000 eligible voters. Party workers from the Congress and its electoral ally, the Republican Party of India, gathered in large numbers, waving flags of both parties around Dr Ambedkar8217;s bust. The entire road leading to the area was blocked, with drumbeats renting the air in tandem with the bursting of fire crackers.

As the kurta-pyjama clad Kamat crossed the road on the Eastern Express Highway to enter Ramabai Nagar at a little before half past four, the impatient crowd surged forward to greet him. Kamat was then lifted by his supporters and taken to Ambedkar8217;s bust. As he proceeded to garland it, he wasgreeted with the slogans Gurudas Kamat aage bado, hum tumhare saath hai, hum sab ek hai.

For the next one hour, Kamat negotiated his way through the narrow lanes and by-lanes of Ramabai Nagar, Nalanda Nagar, Annabhau Sathe nagar, Prabhat Nagar and Transit Camp, jumping over the gaping man-holes, ditches and open gutters and taking a dekko at the bad road conditions. He stopped to shake the hand of a local shopkeeper or wave to the crowds gathered and greet senior citizens with an amiable namaste. Kamat received the traditional dose of tilak and aarti from the local women. A street-play ridiculing the Shiv Sena-BJP government was also enacted by local youths.

Claimed Vithalrao Sathe, vice-president, RPI, Maharashtra, and a resident of Ramabai Nagar, Kamat will definitely get all the 50,000 votes of Ramabai and its adjoining areas, as voters are disillusioned with the sitting MP Pramod Mahajan, who has not visited the area even once. quot;Mahajan has done nothing for Dalits, who comprise amajor chunk of the Ramabai Nagar electoratequot;, he said.

Apart from the RPI and Samajwadi Party support, leaders of the Dalit Sena, retired servicemen associations, local mahila mandals, Maharashtra Mahatang Vikas Sangh have also announced their support to Kamat.