I know that Loksabha constituencies are big; but when I
looked at Mumbai North East Constituency I realized how “big” they really are.
North East Mumbai entails six Assembly constituencies – Shivaji Nagar
(Mankhurd), Mulund, Ghatkopar (East), Ghatkopar (West), Vikroli and Bhandup. In
2009, there were 16 lakh registered voters in the constituency – I remember to
have read somewhere that 4 lakh more voters have been added to this
constituency. Any Road Show cannot have a dialogue with 20 lakh voters spread
over six suburbs of Mumbai. Of course it is clear that not all the voters are
supporters of Medhatai (they are not supporters of any one candidate or a
single party for that matter). So, to conduct AK rally in the parts where there
is more support was clear and made a better sense.
AK’s program was well planned. At five forty in the evening
he was to reach Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar, from their reach Ghatkopar’s Ramabai
Nagar via Shivaji Nagar. Then he was to address public meeting in Vikroli.
According to election code of conduct, the campaign has to end at 10.00 pm. So,
in short AK was visiting three assembly constituencies – to be more specific he
was to show himself to the people of three assembly constituencies. In two
Loksabha constituencies South Mumbai and South Central Mumbai AK had spent two
and half hours; and in one LS constituency he was almost spending four and half
hours. Does AAP cadre too feel that AAP has better chances in Mumbai North East
constituency and has it influenced AK’s schedule in Mumbai? I was little curious.
After taking turn for Mankhurd, we asked the police personnel
regarding the rally and it was easy to get the address of the spot from the
police. On the left hand side we saw crowd – lot of them wearing AAP caps, so
we stopped there. Around 500 people had gathered here. Women’s presence was
substantial. Young, adult, middle aged, old – men and women represented all age
groups. I immediately noted presence of Muslim women due to their burkha and it
was nice to see them confidently smiling with AAP caps.
When we talked to people, I came to know that this area was
Mandala. Even after living in Mumbai for many years, I had never been to this
area. In fact the whole evening brought out the “invisible” Mumbai to me.
In December 2004, more than 85000 households in the area were
threatened to be destroyed as Slum Rehabilitation plan. If we assume that the
average number of people in household is six or seven; then it means that more
than five and half lakh people were to be thrown out of their houses due to the
plan. Luckily for the local, the court accepted the “Right to Live” and people
somehow managed to reconstruct and live. But in 2005 bulldozers appeared,
police lath charged the crowds and hundreds of houses were destroyed by fire.
The Mankhurd area there are many slums and most of the people
in the area are poor. They can’t afford to have a home in the main city and so
are thrown on the periphery of the metro city. With poverty comes illiteracy,
health issues, child mortality and many other problems. In 2004-2005, “Ghar
Bachao, Ghar Banao Andolan” (Movement for saving and constructing houses) was
established in the area and the volunteers approached Medhatai for her support.
Since then Medhatai is working with the people in the area. Right to housing,
Right to Land for housing and the fight of these people for these rights is a
subject which needs a separate article. But that evening I realized that I do
not know much about Medhatai work in the urban area and especially her work
with urban poor. I had thought, “Why instead of contesting from Narmada dam
area she is contesting from a city like Mumbai?” – The evening provided me with
some clues.
AK, Medhatai and others arrived at Mandala and they were
enthusiastically received by the crowds. We moved to Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar
where again there were large number of people waiting for AK and Medhatai. The
atmosphere was charged with songs and slogans. One man told me, “We are waiting
from four in the afternoon.” The people who had come here must be working on
daily wages and they must have taken half a day off just to support AAP. I
spoke to few people. Medhatai is the candidate, she represents AAP, broom is
the symbol of AAP and AK is coming today – almost everybody knew these facts.
Here too “Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan’ is very active. This area has more
than three thousand zuggis. Even after six years of the movement, in May 2010,
400 houses were destroyed and 100 were burnt in fire. People organized a
protest for more than a week and reconstructed the houses with the help of
participatory group labor. Medhatai was with the people then. On one side we
are pushing rural people to cities as there are no livelihood opportunities in
rural areas; and once they come and settle in the cities, we want to push them
out of the cities. Where should they go? These are not small numbers – but
large number of people are being cornered like this.
The rally route had many such slum areas – Rafik Nagar,
Sanjay Nagar, Indira Nagar … 19 such slums. I met many people who are working
with Medhatai for more than a decade. It was good to know that those who know
the problems of the people were seeking a democratic solution by actively
participating in politics.
Here when AK and Medhatai arrived, AK garlanded Anna Bhau
Sathe’ statue but here too he did not speak with people.
It was becoming more difficult to participate in the rally
because of many reasons. The rally is expected to have a very limited number of
vehicles, so we could not join in our taxi, specifically hired for the purpose.
The rally route was not of a walking distance. In the afternoon, we had walked
about four and half kilometers, still I did not mind walking. But what was the
purpose in following AK when he was not going to speak at all? By the time I
was talking to people; AK had already moved away. We still walked and tried to
reach the rally and we saw a mass of people.
Surprisingly, this crowd was without AAP caps. When we
reached near, I was surprised to hear slogans like “Kejariwal, Go Back”, “Down
with Kejariwal” and so on.
My friend hurriedly removed the AAP cap he was proudly
wearing so far. When we reached near the mass we realized that it was a mob of
at least 70 to 80 people – holding black flags and raising slogans against
Kejariwal. There were sufficient numbers of police personnel with this rally as
well. AK and AAP group was not seen anywhere. A man on the road told me that “these
were Congress supporters”. Later a police told me that “they were Samajwadi
party supporters”. Maybe, there were both these groups. Later I was sharing
this with AAP volunteers and one of them said, “Didi, don’t worry. Hardly five
ten people were shouting”. Now I had seen more than 70 people – but AAP in its
characteristic way was happy to ignore any opposition and happy within their
own world! How fast AAP is becoming like any other existing political parties, I
am really concerned about it!
There was not much of a traffic jam – at most people had to
wait for ten more minutes. The roads are wide enough in the area, there were
not many local vehicles and hence there was no traffic jam. Another fact could
be there were not many people in the rally to affect the traffic. We kept on
walking for half an hour. How did I see Mumbai?
Potholes on footpaths, choked drainage, shops at the sides of open
drainage, human excreta spread on the footpaths, children (and even men)
urinating on the roads, garbage on the footpath and people steering though all
this. Is this a city? Is this Mumbai? Basic amenities are not available to
people in this city. If there are no toilets for lakhs of people, they are
forced to use the roads. I am not justifying unhygienic behavior of people; I am
just trying to understand what could be leading people to live in an unhygienic
way! Urban development should be the major discussion point in the elections. I
need to keep watch on manifesto of all the parties – especially on their plan
for urban development as well.
After getting tired of walking, we finally hired an auto rickshaw
to reach Kannamwar Nagar where AK was to address a public meeting. According to
the auto driver, “Congress will have the last laugh”. He is from Gorakhpur but for the last twenty
years is in Mumbai. When I asked him about voting, he told that he was
undecided about it. “What would be your criteria?” I asked, and he said, “Controlling
price”. He added, “Congress has destroyed our country but “our” Mulayamjee is
not behind in the competition. He also said that people don’t decide in advance
about whom to vote. His comment come question, “Kejariwal is raising hopes, but
will he be responsible enough if we vote for him?” silenced me.
By the time we reached Vikroli, the public meeting was
already on. The mob was disciplined – chairs were occupied and many people were
also standing at both the sides. AAP candidates from other constituencies were
also present – Mr. Sanjeev Sane from Thane, Mr. Vijay Pandhare from Nasik, Mr.
Nandu Madhv from Beed.
Medhatai’s speech was well received by the audience and I
also liked it. Later Mr. Mayank Gandhi spoke about “providing each family 450
square feet house; with two bathrooms” which I found vary funny. I mean the way
political parties make unrealistic promises – AAP is following the well set
path! AK speech was covered by the media, so I am not repeating it. However, I found
overall that AK’s speech was centered on himself. He spoke about 49 days in
Delhi (good), about Mr. Modi (bad), about Mr. Ambani (bad) – nothing new in his
speech. He even forgot to speak about his candidates. He mentioned Medhatai
only once (it was her constituency that he was in) and he called her Medha
Patekar (instead of Patkar). What kind of leader is AK – who does not know even
the names of his candidates? And Medhatai is a well-known activist! During the
day I felt the “disconnect” of Mr. Kejariwal.
How many people attended public meeting at Vikroli?
There were twenty chairs in a row. There were approximately
100 rows. So, it amounts to 2000 people. Assuming that there were more rows –
we can safely say 3000 people. 500 people sitting on the floor makes it 3500. About
1000 people were standing – that makes it 4500. With all optimistic additions
the number will not cross 6000 – many were AAP volunteers from different
places, AAP candidates and their supporters from various constituencies; police
personnel, LIB, outsiders like us – so half of them already were AAP
supporters. In a mega city like a Mumbai what does 6000 mean?
AK might be saying that AAP will win 100 seats (again a game
like any other political party), but he must know the truth. Even in Mumbai,
only Medhatai seems to have a chance, forget about the other candidates. Even
Medhatai has a challenge to convert people’s support into votes.
After the meeting was over, candidates were surrounded by
crowds. It was good to see young and old, women and men coming forward for
conversation with candidates.
Will Mumbai support AK? Has Mumbai accepted AAP? What does
Mumbai expect from AAP? Will Mumbai vote for AAP? Some indicative answers were
received during the day. If AAP reflects and is honest, it can still move away
with these answers in a positive manner. The main question is: is AAP willing
to reflect? Is AAP willing to learn and change for better?
AAP’s strength is its candidates. AAP has more candidates
with better social commitment, ideology and better connection with ground
realities. Even if a few of them are elected, AAP will become more
people-centric and not remain AK-centric as it is today. Let us hope for the
best!
