Opinion The financing capital
Adarsh shows how Mumbai suffers as a goldmine for political parties
Just days ago,there was talk of serious indignation in the Maharashtra state government because US authorities had apparently refused to entertain a request for a one-on-one meeting between Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and President Barack Obama when he visits Mumbai later this week. As the CM hosting Obama,Chavan deserved a meeting,was even entitled to it,or so the story went.
But no such hubris was in evidence when Chavan faced the media on Friday and sought to defend himself in the scandal surrounding the allotment of land to the controversial Adarsh Housing Society,in which his relatives got apartments. The young MBA chief minister offered by the Congress to the state as a breath of change after 26/11 and nearly two terms of sloth,was a pale shadow of his usual ebullient self the man who had led the party to successive victories in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections of 2009,and earned a reputation for toughness with allies and the opposition alike. It was as if the hunter had become the hunted.
This disaster,however,was waiting to happen. There are three main themes that dominate the general discourse in Maharashtras capital. They are and not necessarily in this order identity politics involving Marathi-speakers; security and terror; and the machinations of the builder/real estate lobby,and their nexus with the political class.
While the first two in the list have been of emotional value to the states rulers and their rivals,the last has been a lucrative milch cow. Just look at the numbers being talked about. The redevelopment of financial centre Nariman Point: Rs 3,500 crore. The makeover for Mantralaya,the seat of government: estimated at nearly Rs 1,400 crore. Redeveloping an old government colony in Bandra: estimated at Rs 2,500 crore (the builder could earn Rs 5,000 crore). The showpiece Bandra-Worli Sea Link ended up costing the state more than Rs 1,600 crore. The Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link,a bridge across the sea connecting Mumbai with Navi Mumbai,and critical for the success of the proposed new airport,is estimated to cost Rs 8,000 crore and has gone through the trials and tribulations of bidding,cancellations and is ultimately stagnating for want of a decision. So too the Worli-Haji Ali Sea Link,expected to cost Rs 4,300 crore.
These projects and numbers are just a handful of examples. Mumbai and its larger metropolitan area are pockmarked with huge construction projects,commercial and residential,whose physical height is only rivalled by the prices they quote or claim to command. It is an understatement to say that land is at a premium in the city; auctions of mill land once again earn eye-popping amounts. And conflict and disagreements and litigation are routine.
And state politicians dont just have the power to affix their signatures and give projects a green signal,or play around with the rules surrounding the most magical three words for builders: FSI or Floor Space Index. Quite a few from across the political spectrum are also directly involved in the real estate business,or have groups that are closely aligned with one or the other political party.
No builder worth his per-sq-ft will go on record about what it takes to get the government machinery to acquiesce,but private conversations hardly need an excuse to touch the topic. The result is that political parties have gladly come to recognise this as their meal ticket to survive and thrive,not just locally but also nationally. While it is public knowledge,one flogged frequently by the Marathi-speakers parties,that Mumbai accounts for the biggest chunk of tax contributions in the country,it is no state secret either that Mumbai is also a goldmine for political funds.
It is also no coincidence that almost every chief minister who has ruled the state in the last two decades has kept the plum portfolios of urban development and housing with himself. After which it should hardly surprise that the names of three of Chavans predecessors are also being linked to the alleged wrongdoings at Adarsh. And neither should the fact that groups of privileged people politicians,bureaucrats,defence personnel,legal professionals and even journalists not just in Mumbai,but across the country,have gained from discretionary allotment of land or apartments for decades.
Which is why all the display of self-righteousness by those in or out of power over the Adarsh scandal smacks of duplicity. And in the case of Maharashtra,whether the Congress likes it or not,as the party that has ruled the state continuously since 1999,it needs to take a large portion of the blame. Dealing with the Adarsh episode and appearing to fix its embarrassing fallout would only be addressing the symptom. The disease is much deeper,and systemic. Whether the Congress has the stomach to address the cancer is a multi-billion rupee question.
yp.rajesh@expressindia.com
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