Maharashtra polls: Former allies Amarjeet, Potnis slug it out in Kalina

In Mumbai's Kalina constituency, voters seek better living conditions as rivals Sanjay Potnis (Shiv Sena-UBT) and Amarjeet Singh (BJP) battle for change

Mumbai: Two political rivals, who turned allies and then became rivals again, are battling it out in the Kalina assembly constituency – two-time MLA Sanjay Potnis (Shiv Sena-UBT) is challenging Amarjeet Singh (BJP).

Sanjay Potnis is a two-time MLA from Kalina (Facebook)

The last time Potnis and Singh contested against each other was during the 2014 assembly elections. Potnis, then with the undivided Shiv Sena, won by 1,297 votes, securing 30,715 votes from the 50.8% voter turnout. In the 2019 assembly polls, Potnis and Singh found themselves in the same camp as political equations around them changed, and the undivided Sena and BJP were electoral allies. Potnis polled 43,319 votes, an increase of 12,604, and his winning margin was 4,931 over Congress candidate George Abraham. Now, Potnis and Singh are on opposite sides again!

Beyond electoral maths and winning margins, voters in Kalina don’t feel like winners at all. Despite successive elections, their quality of life hasn’t changed. They say elections come and go but their water supply is still erratic, the water is contaminated, there’s been a rise in substance abuse in the community, open spaces are vanishing, traffic congestion has increased, slum rehabilitation projects are stuck, and flooding has worsened due to the overflowing Mithi River.

Amarjeet Singh, the BJP’s nominee from Kalina, says, “Like any other part of Mumbai, this area too faces traffic congestion issues. Short- and long-term plans are required to address these issues.” If voted to power, he claims, he will fix the decade-old problem of erratic water supply.

His rival, Potnis, shifts the blame for the lack of basic civic resources on the absence of corporators. “Ever since the municipal corporation has been under an administrator, basic amenities on ground have worsened. There is a need to hold civic polls.” He also blames the Mahayuti government for not executing projects that would have reduced traffic congestion in the locality.

Around half the constituency is covered in slums and rehabilitation projects here have not taken off. Potnis attributes this to challenges in moving slums off the airport land and restrictions on the height of buildings owing to aviation safety regulations.

Hindustan Times made multiple attempts to reach out to Balkrishna Hutgi, who is contesting the Kalina seat for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) but he did not comment on his plans for the constituency.

Interestingly, there were multiple contenders for the Kalina seat in the Mahayuti coalition. They included the BJP’s General Secretary of the North Central District, Nitesh Singh; the son of former MLA Rajhans Singh; and former Shiv Sena MLAs Sanjay Nirupam and Krishna Hegde. In the seat-sharing formula, the constituency was assigned to the Republic Party of India (Athawale), which transferred it to the BJP.