Somaiya seeks revenge after narrow loss to Patil

In the 2009 general elections, the presence of a candidate of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) deprived Kirit Somaiya, the BJP candidate from Mumbai northeast constituency, of a sure victory.

While Somaiya got 210,572 votes, his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) rival — and sitting MP — Sanjay Dina Patil, got 213,505 and won by a margin of just 3,000 votes. The MNS candidate, Shishir Shinde, had polled 195,148 votes.

This time around, Somaiya is a relieved man. The MNS has decided not to put up a candidate against him in the constituency. “In this election, there is only one person and that is Kirit Somaiya,” exudes the BJP candidate rather immodestly. “Seventy per cent of the electorate in this constituency supports the BJP, the Shiv Sena or the MNS. This time there is no issue of division of our vote bank and we are confident of getting more than two-thirds of the votes.”

Standing atop his rath yatra as it trawls through the slum pockets of Mulund, an affluent northeast Mumbai suburb, Somaiya tells Khaleej Times that since the MNS is supporting the candidature of Narendra Modi as the prime minister, it is also supporting his candidacy in the constituency. “People want change, they want a corruption-free India,” he says. “Everywhere I go around in this constituency, whether it is a slum colony, a chawl, or a middle-class housing society, people are clamouring for change.”

Besides Patil, the sitting NCP MP, Somaiya has another formidable opponent, Medha Patkar of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He, however, refuses to be drawn into any conversation about Patkar or the AAP. “I am concentrating on my party’s agenda and action plan and Modi’s vision for India,” says Somaiya. “I am worried about the expectations of the electorate, which expects us to deliver results by implementing a time-bound action plan.”

What about the popularity of Patkar among the slum-dwellers in the constituency? “I am more concerned about the problems confronting my voters including lack of infrastructure, the horrible traffic conditions, the appalling railway commuting, law and order, price rise and corruption,” counters the BJP candidate.

As for his rivals — who include candidates from the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and other small outfits and independents — Somaiya points out that they are all preparing for the state assembly elections, due to be held in October. “Everybody is trying to build their organisations for the future and even the AAP is trying to get some support for the assembly elections,” he says dismissively about his opponents.

Somaiya, who has been campaigning outside the suburban railway stations from seven in the morning over the past few weeks, says his focus will be on tackling everyday problems including the lack of subways, flyovers, elevated corridors and adequate railway services.

“I also want to ensure that about 1,600 acres of salt pan land lying in my constituency, whose lease expires in 2016, are available for affordable housing for 500,000 people,” he explains. “This land is owned by the central government.”

A chartered accountant, Somaiya (who also has a doctorate in finance from Mumbai University) claims that if the BJP is voted to power, it would revive the capital market, raise the confidence levels of industry and reform India’s “horrible taxation system”.

“Whenever I interact with professionals from the finance sector in Mumbai, they keep mentioning 25,000/55,” points out Somaiya. “Which means, they expect the Sensex (the benchmark index on the Bombay Stock Exchange) to touch a record high of 25,000 after the BJP comes to power, and the rupee strengthening to 55 to the dollar.”

nithin@khaleejtimes.com

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