You had promised relief for citizens living on railway, Central government and defence lands, but the issue remains unsolved even after five years?
From airport land and Mhada policy change to issues pertaining to collector’s and railway land and rehabilitation on airport, defence land, I have done fulfilled more than 80% of the promises. The rest will be done in the coming few months. The Centre has carried out a bio-metric survey of 12,000 homes on defence land. In 2016, a circular on defence land was issued. The slum rehabilitation authority is looking into the technicalities. Also, the bio-metric survey to identify dwellers on railway land will start soon.
Traffic and pollution are major problems in this constituency.
I am the only MP who is a part of the CM’s war room. Rising pollution and tackling it are on its agenda. A memorandum of understanding has been signed to clean Mithi, and the work will start probably after the elections. I got citizens’ groups and traffic police to tie up to resolve issues related to parking. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is giving priority to public transport infrastructure as a part of his vision for smoother commute across the city.
The Opposition Congress has accused the Narendra Modi-government of reducing the importance of Mumbai at the cost of Gujarat and that you as an MP hardly raised the issue.
Mumbai is very close to Modiji’s heart. He knows the country’s financial driving engine is Mumbai. The city contributes heavily to the national gross domestic product (GDP). He has a lot of respect for Mumbai. Whenever we go to him for any Mumbai-related issue, from railways to making Mumbai a stronger financial service center, he is very supportive.
Several people from your constituency have accused you of inaccessibility.
This is just a part of the blame game. The fact is my predecessor was never accessible. Once my candidature was announced, thousands of voters from the constituency flocked to my office to congratulate me. This shows that my accessibility is my biggest strength.
First Published: Apr 03, 2019 23:13 IST
