Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
Yogesh Pawar
MUMBAI, JAN 7: Despite some very spirited oratory, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi could do little to salvage his visit to five of the 21 villages which have boycotted all civic, Assembly and parliamentary elections since 1991 to protest against their amalgamation into the Kalyan Dombivili Municipal Corporation (KDMC).
Readers may recall that the issue of the 21 villages (with a population of over 25,000) has been unresolved for a long time. Besides complaining that they will lose the privileges they enjoy as gram panchayats, the villagers feel that the KDMC has failed in provision of even water, roads and sanitation in spite of collecting taxes from them since 1983 when the KDMC was formed.
Blaming the earlier Congress rule in the State for the neglect of the region he said, ``the fight here seems to be more for development than identity or existence''. He promised to find a solution acceptable to all in a week's time.
Meanwhile, the treatment they gave the labour minister, Shabir Sheikh, who spokeearlier was peppered with vulgar expletives. When he mentioned that he would support only ``the keeping out of a few villages from the KDMC in cases where it was found appropriate''. A visibly shaken Sheikh was so disturbed that he wound up his speech soon afterward. ``I hope the CM has a happy announcement to make to all of us on our Independence Day on January 26 (sic),'' he said before beating a hasty retreat.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------