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Journalism of Courage
He changed the course of history,” reads the inscription on a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. Alongside is a photo of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Freshly inducted Shiv Sainik Vivek Pandit’s table is organised and uncluttered. But the 48-year-old is restless ever since the party announced his candidature for the Assembly elections from Vasai, some 50 km north of Mumbai.
Pandit has every reason to be anxious. Known for his active work for tribals in the area, Pandit is pitted against three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly and brother of ex-TADA detainee Bhai Thakur, Hitendra Thakur. After persistent lobbying failed to get him a Congress ticket during the LS polls—the Congress chose Govinda instead—Pandit quit the party he had been with for four years.
‘‘I was promised a Legislative Council post if I supported Thakur. It was a shameful offer,’’ recalls Pandit. The Pandit-Thakur rivalry goes back 20 years. Pandit’s NGO for tribals and underprivileged groups, Shramjeevi Sanghatana, has been battling Thakur and his alleged land-grabbing activities in the Vasai-Virar belt. And the latest opportunity to fight Thakur has Pandit all excited. Most conversations with the Arts graduate end with a ‘‘we have to defeat him’’ declaration. But the burly Thakur is dismissive of Pandit’s accusations.
‘‘I’m confident of victory and we will defeat the opposition with a lead . The Congress and the NCP are supporting me,’’ says Thakur.
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Thakur profile
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• His elder brother Bhai Thakur built his underworld empire in the area |
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‘‘Why do people point fingers at others when their own image is questionable? He (Pandit) too has serious criminal cases against him,’’ says Ajiv Patil, local corporator.
Pandit was booked under Section 302 of the IPC for criminal conspiracy to murder a local builder. He was also charged with criminal trespass and theft in 1992.
Vasai, meanwhile, is gearing up to watch the outcome of the Pandit versus Thakur fight. Vasai, with its 4 lakh registered voters—it has a population of 15 lakh—has traditionally been a Thakur stronghold with some support for the Congress.
‘‘Nearly 60 per cent of the Christians here vote for the Congress as we don’t subscribe to the BJP-Sena ideology,’’ says Marcus Dabre, president of the Harit Vasai Saurakshan Sanghatana. But with Pandit’s Sena candidature, locals say it’s time for a compromise. ‘‘At least someone has the courage to challenge Thakur’s hold. We are more with the individual than the party he represents,’’ says businessman Ashok Verma. ‘‘We all want an alternative,’’ adds NCP’s Vasai taluka president.
