The contest between Priya Dutt and Poonam Mahajan in the Mumbai’s North Central constituency is likely to be the hottest race in the city this general election. The media has already created a buzz around the battle of the ‘daughters’. Dutt, the sitting member of parliament from the Congress, is the daughter of late actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who represented Mumbai North West for five terms from 1984. Poonam Mahajan’s father Pramod was in the higher ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party when he was killed by his brother in 2006.
For the residents of North Central constituency, however, the battle is not so much about the Congress, BJP or their dynastic legacies, but about slum rehabilitation, infrastructure and better railway services. It is one of the more diverse constituencies in the city, socially and economically. It includes several slums in areas like Kalina and Kurla, middle-class colonies in Vile Parle and Khar as well as affluent neighbourhoods in Bandra. The demands and expectations of citizens vary just as widely.
Businessman Parag Vora, for instance, wants the area’s many slums to be rehabilitated in ways that will allow slum dwellers to coexist peacefully with other residents. “It seems like the slums are run by slum lords who might be enjoying political patronage,” said Vora, a Vile Parle resident. “Our drivers and domestic help live in these slums, and they constantly complain of their unsanitary conditions. They need a better standard of living.”
At a public event on Thursday, however, many Bandra residents expressed the opposite sentiment. Organised by a local NGO, the event was the opportunity for Dutt, along the area’s sitting legislator and corporators, to address questions raised by citizens. Amidst queries about the Right to Information Act, safety for women and the proposed coastal road, the theme of slum encroachments came up repeatedly, with one woman demanding complete demolition of certain slums on very narrow roads. Dutt had an instant response. “I am an MP not just for you but also for other areas in my constituency,” she said. “I visit slums everyday and I cannot cut myself off from those realities. I have to strike a balance between the two.”
In an interview with Scroll.in, Dutt said slum rehabilitation is one of the biggest tasks facing any MP in the city. “We can’t just create vertical slums by way of rehabilitation,” she said. “People need to be educated and trained about how to live in and maintain buildings.”
Dutt says that if elected for a third term, she would also focus on constructing more women’s toilets on railway platforms and ensuring the completion of big-budget infrastructure projects like the metro rail and the Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road, which passes through Mumbai North Central constituency.
Mahajan, on the other hand, has her eye on a whole different set of issues as she campaigns to defeat Dutt. “As a woman MP, one would be expected to raise a voice again rape, molestation and inflation,” Mahajan told Scroll.in. “So far, the UPA has only brought on high inflation.”
Mahajan has never contested in Lok Sabha polls before and lost the last assembly election in Maharashtra in 2009, but is smoothly confident about winning the seat next month. “The people of India have decided that they don’t want the Congress anymore, they want Modi as the prime minister,” she said. “To make him the PM, people know they have to vote for BJP in every single constituency.”
Neither of the two women like to think of their political status as a function of dynastic politics. Mahajan, in fact, likes to emphasise that she has been working as a politician for the past seven or eight years. “If dynastic politics truly existed, I would have got this ticket to stand for elections a long time ago,” said Mahajan.
Political commentators, however, cannot help pointing out the wave of dynasts taking over their parents’ roles across parties in India. “We have criticised the Gandhi family for decades for being dynastic, but now other parties have gained in strength too, and they, too, have dynasts,” said Prakash Bal, a political analyst based in Mumbai. His reference is to the Shiv Sena leadership, to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh and the Badal family in Punjab, among many others. “The truth is, promoting dynasty is a part of Indian feudal culture – a doctor wants his son to be a doctor, a lawyer thinks the same way, and family businesses are highly dynastic,” said Bal.
For the BJP, pitting Mahajan against Dutt would have been a carefully calculated move, given the similarities between the two women who have lost their fathers and wish to carry on their parent’s legacy. But on election day, experts believe the dynasty factor may not play much of a role in determining the final outcome.
“I think Priya Dutt is likely to retain her seat, simply because the constituency has been a Congress bastion for years, and Dutt has some experience and her networks,” said Surendra Jhondale, a professor of political science at Mumbai University.
For the residents of North Central constituency, however, the battle is not so much about the Congress, BJP or their dynastic legacies, but about slum rehabilitation, infrastructure and better railway services. It is one of the more diverse constituencies in the city, socially and economically. It includes several slums in areas like Kalina and Kurla, middle-class colonies in Vile Parle and Khar as well as affluent neighbourhoods in Bandra. The demands and expectations of citizens vary just as widely.
Businessman Parag Vora, for instance, wants the area’s many slums to be rehabilitated in ways that will allow slum dwellers to coexist peacefully with other residents. “It seems like the slums are run by slum lords who might be enjoying political patronage,” said Vora, a Vile Parle resident. “Our drivers and domestic help live in these slums, and they constantly complain of their unsanitary conditions. They need a better standard of living.”
At a public event on Thursday, however, many Bandra residents expressed the opposite sentiment. Organised by a local NGO, the event was the opportunity for Dutt, along the area’s sitting legislator and corporators, to address questions raised by citizens. Amidst queries about the Right to Information Act, safety for women and the proposed coastal road, the theme of slum encroachments came up repeatedly, with one woman demanding complete demolition of certain slums on very narrow roads. Dutt had an instant response. “I am an MP not just for you but also for other areas in my constituency,” she said. “I visit slums everyday and I cannot cut myself off from those realities. I have to strike a balance between the two.”
In an interview with Scroll.in, Dutt said slum rehabilitation is one of the biggest tasks facing any MP in the city. “We can’t just create vertical slums by way of rehabilitation,” she said. “People need to be educated and trained about how to live in and maintain buildings.”
Dutt says that if elected for a third term, she would also focus on constructing more women’s toilets on railway platforms and ensuring the completion of big-budget infrastructure projects like the metro rail and the Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road, which passes through Mumbai North Central constituency.
Mahajan, on the other hand, has her eye on a whole different set of issues as she campaigns to defeat Dutt. “As a woman MP, one would be expected to raise a voice again rape, molestation and inflation,” Mahajan told Scroll.in. “So far, the UPA has only brought on high inflation.”
Mahajan has never contested in Lok Sabha polls before and lost the last assembly election in Maharashtra in 2009, but is smoothly confident about winning the seat next month. “The people of India have decided that they don’t want the Congress anymore, they want Modi as the prime minister,” she said. “To make him the PM, people know they have to vote for BJP in every single constituency.”
Neither of the two women like to think of their political status as a function of dynastic politics. Mahajan, in fact, likes to emphasise that she has been working as a politician for the past seven or eight years. “If dynastic politics truly existed, I would have got this ticket to stand for elections a long time ago,” said Mahajan.
Political commentators, however, cannot help pointing out the wave of dynasts taking over their parents’ roles across parties in India. “We have criticised the Gandhi family for decades for being dynastic, but now other parties have gained in strength too, and they, too, have dynasts,” said Prakash Bal, a political analyst based in Mumbai. His reference is to the Shiv Sena leadership, to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh and the Badal family in Punjab, among many others. “The truth is, promoting dynasty is a part of Indian feudal culture – a doctor wants his son to be a doctor, a lawyer thinks the same way, and family businesses are highly dynastic,” said Bal.
For the BJP, pitting Mahajan against Dutt would have been a carefully calculated move, given the similarities between the two women who have lost their fathers and wish to carry on their parent’s legacy. But on election day, experts believe the dynasty factor may not play much of a role in determining the final outcome.
“I think Priya Dutt is likely to retain her seat, simply because the constituency has been a Congress bastion for years, and Dutt has some experience and her networks,” said Surendra Jhondale, a professor of political science at Mumbai University.
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