Raj pads up for civic polls

Says his party will expose corrupt contractors of the Shiv Sena-ruled BMC.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray kick-started his party’s campaign for the next year’s civic polls by announcing a major drive to expose corrupt contractors doing shoddy road work under the Shiv Sena-BJP controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

He said the MNS would also launch campaigns next week against the apathy of civic bodies in Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nasik, he said. In his 45-minute speech in Azad Maidan in front of a crowd of 20,000 supporters, Raj Thackeray attacked the civic administration, which, he said, was taking the ordinary tax-payer for a ride. “We will catch each contractor and ask him, in the presence of the media, whom he is paying - from corporators to officials - to get his tender passed. We will expose them with proof,” he said.

Commenting on posters that alleged that he had grabbed reserved plots in Mumbai, Raj said he did not take anonymous allegations seriously. “People take allegations made against me by anonymous people seriously. Those who want to take me on must show guts to come on record. I’m in the real estate business for the past 10 years and that is my source of income. But there are some who run their houses by making business out of civic tenders. I got these plots when I was in the Shiv Sena. If anyone wants details, they can check with Manohar Joshi, who is still in the Sena. If there is any documentary proof of me grabbing reserved plot, I will shut down my company,” he said.

Watched by hordes of corporators from the BMC headquarters’ gallery, Raj took potshots at the BJP, whose senior leader Gopinath Munde had earlier dubbed his Azad Maidan morcha as a “stunt”. “Munde made allegations that NCP leader Sharad Pawar had links with underworld don Dawood. Did he ever produce a proof? He also said that Enron will be thrown into the Arabian Sea, but he was seen sitting close to Enron chief Rebecca Mark. Isn’t this a stunt? The biggest stunt is to hold campaign against terrorism now. Why didn’t he do the same when there was an attack on Akshardham temple and Parliament when the NDA government was in power?” he said.

Raj said tax-payers were the worst hit by the current BMC dispensation. “Roads are bad, there are no schools, playgrounds, and even the quality of water is shocking. Don’t civic officials travel on these roads to know the reality? There is a limit to which one can exploit the ordinary citizens,” he said.

Earlier, in the afternoon, Raj met Municipal Commissioner Johny Joseph and handed over an eight-page memorandum, highlighting various issues.