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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Cong to go solo in BMC elections, decision taken at meeting in New Delhi
MUMBAI: In a major move, the Congress has decided to contest the crucial upcoming BMC elections on its own. The party leadership is of the view that going solo is necessary to safeguard the party's organisational interests, given that its position is getting weaker with every passing year. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting held in New Delhi on May 13 where all the senior leaders from Mumbai were present, Congress insiders revealed. The decision has come at a time when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), another Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally, has expressed willingness to join hands with Thackeray's estranged cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray in the interest of Maharashtra and Marathi people. 'All the party leaders in Mumbai were determined that the Congress should not think of contesting the BMC polls as part of the MVA,' revealed a senior leader privy to the development. Another senior leader is believed to have told the party bosses in the New Delhi meeting that the Congress had already started losing its voter base to its alliance partners. 'If we contest the BMC elections in alliance, we will completely lose our ground in the city,' he reportedly said. Some leaders also expressed their unhappiness at the lower number of seats given to the Congress in Mumbai in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections last year. The party got two seats—Mumbai North and Mumbai North Central—in the Lok Sabha elections while in the assembly polls it had to be content with only 11 seats. A Congress MLA present at the meeting confirmed the development. 'The BMC election is directly related to the roots of the organisation,' he said. 'It helps create new leadership. To strengthen the party organisation, it is vital to contest the polls on our own.' Another leader said that the party's voter base was on the decline, for which it was necessary to go alone. 'The option for a post-poll alliance with the MVA partners is always open,' he said. The Congress' Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala too said that the local leadership was keen on contesting the BMC polls, and a discussion had taken place in this regard. 'But first of all, I want to make it clear that the Congress will remain part of the MVA coalition though we may contest on our own,' he told Hindustan Times. 'The MVA will continue to exist.' Chennithala admitted that the predominant feeling in the party was that it should go alone. 'This is because in the Lok Sabha elections we were given only two seats in Mumbai, of which we could win only one,' he elaborated. 'In the assembly elections too, we again got only 11 seats. It is a fact that the party leaders are very unhappy. For local elections, the views of the local leadership and local issues are always considered.' The performance of the Congress, in the city where it was formed, has been in decline since 2007. In 2007, the party won 75 seats, which reduced to 56 in 2012 and even further to 31 in the last elections held in 2017. Of these, several former corporators have left the party and joined the ruling Shiv Sena and BJP. Those present at the meeting were Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi, general secretary KC Venugopal, Chennithala, CWC members Chandrakant Handore, Arif Naseem Khan, city chief Varsha Gaikwad, former city president Ashok Jagtap, MLAs Amin Patel and Aslam Shaikh, former ministers Suresh Shetty and Madhu Chavan and treasurer Amarjit Singh Manhas.
Hindustan Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Metro 3 will be fully operational by August: CM
Mumbai: The entire route of Metro 3, the only underground metro corridor in the city, will become operational by August this year, which would boost ridership significantly, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday. 'The ridership of Metro 3 is increasing gradually and when the entire route is opened for the public, ridership numbers will jump further,' Fadnavis said while inaugurating metro services between Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Acharya Atre Chowk on the Metro 3 route. The stretch will be thrown open to the public from Saturday morning, he said. 'We will invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi when we open the entire route till Cuffe Parade in August,' Fadnavis said. The aqua line could have become operational 1.5 years ago if the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had not stalled it, he alleged. The chief minister was speaking to reporters after taking a ride on the aqua line, another name for the Metro 3 corridor, from BKC to Siddhivinayak Temple. Officials said a total of 244 daily services will be operational from Saturday between BKC and Acharya Atre Chowk in Worli – the second phase of the Metro 3 corridor spanning 9.77 km. There are a total of 208 escalators and 67 lifts at metro stations between Aarey JVLR and Acharya Atre Chowk, they said. At present, over 20,000 passengers use Metro 3 services between Aarey JVLR and BKC on a daily basis. This constitutes just 5% of the expected ridership of 400,000 on the aqua line. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), which operates the line, expects ridership numbers to go up with services being extended till Worli from Saturday. Work on the Metro 3 corridor began in 2017 but was hit by delays owing to the pandemic and other reasons, which pushed up the project cost from ₹23,000 crore to ₹37,000 crore. Once the entire line is operational, it will cater to around 1.3 million passengers daily, ferrying approximately 2,500 passengers in each eight-coach train, said MMRCL officials. It will also improve connectivity between business hubs like BKC, Worli and Nariman Point besides providing easy access to religious sites like Siddhivinayak temple, Mahim dargah and Mahim church and recreational places like Shivaji Park, Ravindra Natya Mandir, Shivaji Mandir, Yashwant Natya Mandir and Plaza Cinema. The BKC station will also be connected with Metro line 2B and the bullet train in future, which is expected to further boost ridership, said officials.
