2019 Lok Sabha polls: In Mumbai North Central, it is Priya Dutt versus Poonam Mahajan

t is one of the prestigious battles in the country, where daughters of two late stalwart politicians are fighting each other for the famed Mumbai North Central seat.

Priya Dutt, daughter of the late actor Sunil Dutt who is respected across the country for his social work, is fighting a pitched battle to regain her father’s constituency from Poonam Mahajan, daughter of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, one of the architects of the party’s growth across the nation.

Both are crisscrossing the constituency, asking voters to cast their ballot, as it concerns the future of the country.

“People need to vote for the Congress to save the Constitution. The last five years saw unfortunate incidents such as lynching which never happened before,” said Dutt.

For Mahajan, her appeal is only Modi can take India to newer heights. “This is not the election for Poonam Mahajan, but for the future of our children. In 2014, we were counted as a fragile economy, while today we are one of the fastest growing countries,” said Mahajan.

The North Central constituency, which consists of areas like the plush Bandra, Santacruz and Vile Parle, also boasts of densely populated slums like Chandivli and Kurla. Residents complain of traffic bottlenecks as well as lack of rehabilitation in slum pockets.

In addition, those living in the vicinity of the airports and part of the airport funnel zone, rue the rules are affecting their housing problem.

“Our MPs have been unable to solve this issue for years, despite the fact that thousands of families are residing in more than 6,000 such buildings. Today our structures are dilapidated, but we cannot move out, as no builder is ready to take up revamp owing to stringent rules,” said Suman Khandewal, who lives in one of these buildings. Tehreem Yunus, an architecture student, said commuting has become a menace, especially after the Metro work. “It is virtually impossible to walk and no steps are being taken to ease the situation,” said Yunus.

The incumbent MP Poonam Mahajan claims the process to resolve the issues has started and people will see the results soon.