Voice of Mumbai Kirit set for 15th Lok Sabha

Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray at a massive rally in support of Kirit Somaiya
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Dr Kirit Somaiya, who has been championing the cause of the common man, will have a smooth sailing in the Lok Sabha poll from Mumbai North East.

From the lower middle class families to the small investor have all have only praise for Dr Somaiya, fondly called “Aapla Manoos”.

Meet any one a cross the constituency – and every one has only thing to say: “Kiritbhai should win and he will”. The popularity for Dr Somaiya can also gauged from the discussions in crowded local trains, bus stops and in shopping malls. “Kiritbhai ka toh jawaab naheen,” said Ramnik Lal Mehta, a senior citizen. “Yes, he will win,” said a young college student Tripti Kulkarni returning from her tutorials.

Dr Somaiya’s election meetings have all been a massive success. His own mass contact rallies, meetings at street corners and railway stations have all aroused such a huge response that the rivals seem to have begun to worry if they will be able to save their deposits, leave alone coming close to Dr Somaiya’s numbers.

With BJP ally Shiv Sena leadership and cadre mobilizing support for Dr Somaiya, his victory is a foregone conclusion, political analysts say.

“This is one clear cut case where massive crowds at election rallies will definitely convert into votes for Dr Somaiya,” said a veteran political journalist of a leading media group. “You do not need election experts to say this; it is all there in front of us. I know the pulse of the people here,” he said.

It is based on issues that concern the voter and they selfless manner in which Dr Somaiya has been relentlessly fighting that has caught the imagination of a cross section. Among the issues that Dr Somaiya has been focusing on are: the sugar scam that has resulted in its price rise, the continuous load shedding that has inconvenienced the people and the Mithi river project.

Although the project has been delayed due to non-receipt of sufficient funds from the Centre and the ongoing infighting among the various government agencies, Dr Somaiya asserts that “My aim is to get the Mithi River project completed by 2012”. The massive flooding in the Mithi River during the worst deluge in the history of Mumbai on 26 July 2005 had claimed 450 lives out of the total deaths of 550 across the metropolis.

A Man of Action, Kirit has been active in various segment of socio-political life, on the issues and problem of Mumbai, fighting for Small Investors, active in health awareness. He is the founder President of Investors’ Grievances Forum, an organization having ISO 9001-2000, which gave birth to Small Investors’ Protection movement.

His Yuvak Pratishthan, a 25 years old NGO, has been doing commendable work in Slum welfare, Health, TB and AIDS control programmes. The Yuvak Pratishthan also got ISO 9001-2000 in the year 2005.

Many in the constituency recall that as a Parliamentarian, Dr Somaiya who had represented the area in the13th Lok Sabha during 1999 – 2004 echoed Mumbai’s voice in Delhi. In fact, he holds a record for submitting the maximum number of petitions to Parliament i.e. 11 (out of 27 total petitions presented in 13th Lok Sabha) during his tenure in Lok Sabha.. He has also submitted more than 500 questions in Parliament during his tenure in the 13th Lok Sabha.

“Mumbai needs MPs like Dr Somaiya,” says Shiv Sena leader Udhav Thackeray. And he is not wrong!