Come to the party

In today’s third phase of polling,there’s much that’s worth watching. Will the Scindia name still work in Guna,or will the Madhya Pradesh CM’s personal popularity storm the Congress’s last bastion? Will voters brave threats of violence in Kashmir’s Anantnag? Will Jaswant Singh’s bold gamble in Darjeeling pay off? But most eyes will be turned to India’s western coast,where the 10 constituencies of the Mumbai metropolitan belt are being contested. It’s not just that these are fascinating constituencies for those interested in the twists of party politics; it’s also that the post-26/11 clamour for the heads of politicians — any politicians,all politicians — was centred in wounded Mumbai,and so there’s considerable interest in whether the reverberations from that are still resounding through the streets of the city.

Certainly,the independent candidates standing as the voices of South Mumbai will hope that the anger’s still around. But even if former banker Meera Sanyal and surgeon Mona Shah,who’re standing in South Mumbai,manage to cut into Congress candidate Milind Deora’s share of the vote,the question of whether the rest of Mumbai gives a damn will still be open. There’s certainly anger about the lack of responsiveness of the urban MPs — Govinda’s constituents are particularly angry. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s disillusionment being expressed with party politics. All reports from the ground suggest otherwise — there’s renewed interest in the fate of parties,actually,with the Shiv Sena fighting off Raj Thackeray’s MNS and the Congress/ NCP dealing with Samajwadi Party spoilers.

Post-delimitation,the number of seats in the Mumbai-Thane belt has increased,to better reflect the great city’s influence in Maharashtra and nationwide. Mumbai deserves leadership and a voice,locally and in Parliament,to match its cultural and social prominence. Today’s turnout will be one way of judging how Mumbaikars intend to obtain that voice.