BJP’s Ganesh Naik hold janata durbar in Thane, ruffles Sena feathers

THANE: Despite opposition from the Shiv Sena, forest minister Ganesh Naik of the BJP on Monday held a janata darbar or people’s court in Thane, the home turf of Shiv Sena chief and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. Naik’s durbar is being viewed in political circles as the BJP’s plan to expand in Thane, a city where the Shiv Sena has a considerable presence.

Senior government officers stayed away from Naik’s meeting apparently to avoid antagonising Shinde, who is Thane’s guardian minister. The city’s police commissioner, the collector of the Thane municipal corporation, the CEO of the district council, the Thane superintendent of police, the regional transport officer and the chief conservator of forests all did not turn up for the janata darbar, a programme in which a minister listens to people’s grievances and tries to address them.

Shinde, whose Shiv Sena won 56 seats in the assembly polls, is attempting to further strengthen the party. The BJP too is keen on expanding its base in Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Bhiwandi, Ambernath, Kulgaon, Badlapur, Panvel and Navi Mumbai, and has therefore appointed Naik as the sampark (contact) mantri for Thane. Naik was the guardian minister of Thane for 15 years in Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP governments. He is currently the guardian minister of Palghar district.

Over 600 people met Naik during the course of the four-hour durbar, which was held at Kharkar Alley. The minister spoke to them, accepted applications and even gave orders over the phone to stop a demolition at Diva. Some office-bearers of the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) also met him to ask him to stop the demolition of 62 buildings in Dombivli. “I will speak to the CM after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday,” Naik told them.

When Naik was asked about the negligible presence of senior officers at the durbar, he said, “Where’s the need for them? I am there to collect representations from people and will pass them on to the departments concerned. There are some revenue, forest and police officers here. If immediate intervention was needed, I called up officials and got a solution.” When asked whether the Shiv Sena had ensured that senior officials stayed away, Naik avoided the question.

A senior Sena leader said that the post of sampark mantri was a BJP one and hence senior officers, who attend only official functions, stayed away. Shiv Sena minister Pratap Sarnaik, who hails from Thane, in an apparent tit-for-tat move, said that he was going to be appointed the sampark minister for Palghar and would then tour the district.

The Shiv Sena’s Thane MP Naresh Mhaske, when asked why Shiv Sena (UBT) workers had come to meet Naik, said that they probably found it awkward to meet Shiv Sena representatives and thus took the easy way out. When asked about Naik’s announcement of another meeting in Thane, he said, “More such janata darbars must be held so that people’s issues are solved.” However, he chose not to comment on fewer officers attending the durbar.

The district information office said that the additional collector of Thane Manisha Jaybhaye, sub-divisional officer Urmila Patil, project director of UMED Chhayadevi Shisode, additional CEO of Thane zilla parishad Ajinkya Pawar, district planning officer Vaibhav Kulkarni and many other officials were present at the durbar. Since Naik is the forest minister, there were a large number of forest officers and guards too.