‘Want To Save City From Thackerays’: Mumbai BJP Chief Slams Sena’s 25-Year Rule Over BMC | Exclusive – Delhi News Daily

On the issue of traffic jams and parking, Ameet Satam said ‘Mumbai Metro 3 will change the entire game for Mumbai’. (PTI)

With the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections just months away, the political battle for Asia’s richest civic body is set to intensify. The BJP, once a junior ally in Mumbai, now sees itself as the prime contender for control of the corporation long dominated by Shiv Sena. At the center of the strategy is Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam, who faces questions on whether his party will settle for compromise in the Mahayuti alliance or assert itself as the ‘big brother’ in the city’s politics.

The BJP leadership in the state has put faith in a relatively young and fresh face to win the upcoming election, which has become an issue of prestige for them. Satam, who recently got the mantle of BJP’s Mumbai unit from Ashish Shelar, has already started preparation for the civic body elections.

Speaking to News18, Satam said: “We are taking the agenda of infrastructure projects which have changed the entire map of Mumbai in a positive way. Under the leadership of PM Modi and CM Fadnavis, Mumbai is moving fast and new infrastructure projects like Mumbai Coastal Road, Atal Setu, CCTVs across Mumbai City, redevelopment of BDD Chawls and giving 500 sqft houses for residents etc. have been achieved. Unfortunately, BMC, which was ruled by Shiv Sena UBT, didn’t bring any of these changes. They failed to live up to the expectation of Mumbaikars. We want to give transparent and corruption-free civic body administration to Mumbaikars. We also want ideas from Mumbaikars that we will incorporate in our manifesto of civic polls.”

Satam, who is the MLA from Mumbai, has been vocal about issues related to Mumbai and the civic body in the assembly. Taking a dig at Thackeray and his faction of Shiv Sena, who ruled over BMC for 25 years, he said: “We must save BMC from Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray. They have ruled BMC for 25 years and what have they given to Mumbaikars? Shiv Sena UBT’s administration was corrupt and visionless. They can’t show a single project as their initiative. If they are taking credit for Coastal Road, Atal Setu let me tell you that the ideas for these projects were floated during Congress regime but Congress, despite having government in the state and Centre at that time, couldn’t obtain a single environmental clearance. It was the able leadership of Devendra Fadnavis which not only got all permissions from the Centre but also completed these projects,” said Satam.

Satam also said the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena had lost ground in Mumbai. “Uddhav lost the ground when he deviated from Hindutva in 2019. He is the only chief minister in the history of India whose 44 out of 54 MLAs left him despite the fact that he was CM and had good numbers. Many of his current leaders may also desert him as BMC and other local body elections come closer. For all Shiv Sena party workers, including UBT faction, Hindutva is their breath and they can’t live without Hindutva.”

On the contentious issue of who is the big brother in the Mahayuti alliance, Satam took a balanced stand and refrained from divulging details of seat-sharing. “There is no issue of big brother or small brother in our alliance. We will contest BMC election as Mahayuti and establish our Mayor. To fulfil the dreams of Mumbaikars and give them transparent and non-corrupt administration is our aim which we will achieve, as we are not power-hungry people. As of now, for us which party will contest how many seats and which party will establish the Mayor is not important.”

BMC, despite having an annual budget greater than many of the smaller states in the country, received flak for poor infrastructure facilities, especially for potholes, pathetic road condition, traffic jams, and lack of sanitisation facilities. When Satam was questioned about these issues, he pointed the finger at Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena UBT and put them on the spot.

“Who ruled BMC for the last 25 years? What was their vision of Mumbai? They only concentrated on Standing Committee meetings in BMC where they used to get commission to pass projects. In the last three years, we have increased road works, but they will also have utility ducts so that utility service providers won’t have to dig the road now and then. We are increasing the STP plants in the city which will make our sea clean. We will be coming up with a policy of open spaces which BMC will control. We have a plan to have dedicated hawking zones. For the waterlogging issue, we will be creating a study group that will have experts, including representatives from IIT Bombay and VJTI institutes,” he said.

On the issue of traffic jams and parking, Satam said “Mumbai Metro 3 will change the entire game for Mumbai”. “As people will start using this mode of transport more, there will be a significant reduction in on-road vehicles and traffic jams. It will help us to decongest Mumbai traffic. We have a plan of having more underground parking lots in Mumbai along with vertical multi-level parking slots to make roads free from parking.”

Talking about the Thackeray cousins coming together, Satam replied, “It will have no impact on BMC elections, people will be voting based on who has worked for them and who has failed to live up to their promises. In the last assembly election, all saw how MVA got decimated when they tried to challenge Mahayuti in the state.”

While Satam is confident that the Mahayuti will establish its Mayor this time, the road will not be that easy for BJP as Eknath Shinde eyes a bigger share of the seat-sharing pie. This will be the first civic body election for Shinde since he parted ways with Uddhav Thackeray and got the official party symbol and name.