MUMBAI: The recent resignation of former corporator from Dharavi and City Congress chairman (minority cell) Babbu Khan has rattled the Congress.
Khan represented Ward 184 in Dharavi and comes from the assembly constituency former minister and city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad represents. Khan, along with seven others, joined the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) in presence of CM Eknath Shinde.
Most of Khan’s barbs are directed at Gaikwad who became the first woman chief of Mumbai Congress in June. “Ever since she became Mumbai Congress chief, she began side-lining me. I am committed to people’s work. If I couldn’t work for the people, there was no point staying with that party,” said Khan. Calling Khan’s allegations baseless, Gaikwad said that she had opposed Adani (Gautam Adani) entry to Dharavi for its development and the party had to pay for it. “People have been lured by money and power. We are in the Congress because of its ideology and we want to work for the people. We love our leader Rahul Gandhi and are committed to the party’s policy of inclusive growth and secularism,” she said.
Congress has only four MLAs out of 36 in the city and besides Gaikwad, three are Muslims (Amin Patel, Aslam Shaikh and Zeeshan Baba Siddiqui. “Congress survives in the city mostly because of Muslim votes and yet its senior leadership have ignored the community. It will be tough for the Congress to retain its seats both in the corporation and the assembly,” he said.
Another ex-corporator from Dharavi Bhaskar Shetty said that funds had stopped coming for the area’s development while he was in Congress and even MLA Gaikwad was “inaccessible.” “Shinde sahib’s style of functioning is different. He is a hands-on leader,” he said.
Khan said that many party leaders, including some sitting Muslim MLAs, tried to stop him from leaving Congress but he had had made his mind.
