NAGPUR: Dinanath Padole's political career went into a hibernation after he lost the civic elections in 1990 after serving just one term. He
returned to limelight after 14 years in political wilderness when his mentor MP Vilas Muttemwar got the Congress ticket for South Nagpur assembly by-elections. Padole won the quadrangular contest by a narrow margin. However, he became a force to reckon with in this election when he won by over 30,000 votes. TOI talked to Padole about his plans for his constituency. The excerpts:
Q: You have returned with a huge margin. How do you intend to pay back the voters?
A: My constituency has a large number of unauthorized layouts that do not have any civic amenities like water pipelines, sewer lines, street lights and roads. NMC and NIT do not provide these facilities in the area. As a result I had to spend my MLA fund in my last term. I will have to do the same this time too even though this is not my job but that of NMC and corporators. However, when people are living without primary facilities I will do my best for them.
Another problem in my area is lack of markets. People have built homes on land earmarked for markets. Now, we cannot evict hundreds of people. A common man builds a house with great difficulty and if it is razed he won't be able to do it again.
However, due to these encroachments people are selling things on roadside which are leading to traffic jams and other problems. I will discuss possible solutions with NIT and built markets in my constituency.
The other big problem is water shortage. I will pursue the Pench IV project at all levels so that water supply to the city increases, which will reduce water woes.
Q: What are your other plans?
A: My last term was spent mostly solving problems of unauthorized layouts. However, this time I want to go in for big projects. I will build an auditorium in South Nagpur. I will also develop playgrounds and gardens in the constituency.
I will meet maximum number of people and find out their needs. I will try to fulfill them.