After a second consecutive victory against Congress' Milind Deora from the prestigious Mumbai South constituency, Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant (67) is being inducted into the union cabinet. In an interview with Dhaval Kulkarni, the union leader and Sena veteran spells out his plans for the constituency and promises to ensure toilets in ladies coaches of suburban trains.
Edited excerpts:
Q: What would you attribute your victory to?
A: Peoples' faith in my work, my public outreach and the fact that voters did not believe in the false propaganda against me. Narendra Modi's charisma worked as people wanted him to come to power. The voters supported the Shiv Sena and BJP's decision to form an alliance.
Q: What are your priorities for the next five years?
A: The Shiv Sena did not release a manifesto. We have supported the one issued by the BJP. We stress on national security, construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, the need to abolish Article 370 (which confers special status on Jammu and Kashmir) and boost economic growth to create jobs.
Q: The city has several high-profile projects that need assistance from the Centre...
A: I will focus on securing necessary permissions for the coastal road project and development of the Mumbai Port Trust's (MbPT) surplus land on the east coast. I will fulfil Uddhavji's (Sena president Uddhav Thackeray) dream to redevelop the eastern coast of the city. Also, my focus will be utilisation of National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills' surplus land for industries and the service sector rather than residential complexes. A boost will be given to redevelopment of old and dilapidated chawls and buildings on NTC and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) lands. The MbPT tried to levy exorbitant rents on its tenants. This will be rolled back.
Q: Mumbai suburban rail network needs a booster shot considering the rising passenger load.
A: Passenger load has come down significantly in my constituency. Once the Metro railway (Colaba- Bandra- SEEPZ) begins operations, the load on stations like Churchgate and CST will reduce further. This time, I will ensure that the ladies compartments in local trains get toilets. The definition of local travel has changed from the time when the furthermost points were Borivali and Thane.
Now, people travel to Mumbai from places like Dahanu, the journey is two-and-half to three hours long. Travelling for long in trains without toilets is problematic for pregnant women and the aged. Also, railway stations must have end-to-end bridges so people can walk to their destination with ease.
Q: The issue of houses for textile mill workers is hanging fire...
A: This is an issue concerning the state government. The erstwhile Congress and NCP government changed the development control regulations (DCR) to ensure that only one-third of the open areas in these mills was alloted for affordable housing and open spaces respectively. The mill owners made a killing due to this decision.
