Yes, civic elections are about local issues, very basic issues pertaining to our daily life. And therefore, as a voter I would start judging the BJP administration in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation(AMC) in last five years based on the basic works done in last five years. I would primarily focus on the works completed within one km periphery area around the place where I stay and try to learn what the BJP administration in AMC delivered in last five years.

Being Selfish

I recall the days when Dharnidhar derasar road was single lane, with white tube light poles as streetlight. I remember, there was a railway crossing called Shreyas Crossing. We were facing high dose of boredom and inconvenience when train was to pass, and crossing was closed. I remember low frequency of AMTS buses, and meaningless route structure. I remember water supply problems in our street and people illegally using electric motors to absorb water. I remember poor condition of ‘Khading Khading’ style Vikasgruh road on which I used to ride my bicycle with great difficulty. I remember that the nearest suitable garden to visit from my home was Parimal garden, located at 1.7 km distance. I remember how horribly dusty my surrounding was. I recall how for even a birth or death certificate I had to go to the AMC office located at 7 km distance from my home. The nearest swimming pool was at Sardar Patel stadium, about 6-7 km away from my place. Once upon a time, we had inefficient garbage collection system, and removal of garbage was painful……There can be such long list of what was there years before.

And contrary to this, today the Dharnidhar derasar road if four lane, and with sodium lights. There are high mast towers erected there delivering the best quality of light. Shreyas railway crossing now ceases to exist. There is a good fly-over now. Mandatory halts at railway crossing has become past. The journey between the areas of Ambawadi and Satellite is easier now thanks to a new overbridge. AMTS buses are there, but just to link the inner roads. The main network has been replaced with BRTS. One of the BRTS bus-stands is located at five-minute walk distance from my place. The service is faster, smoother and not costlier. Blessing of connectivity you can call. If I want to go to Maninagar, I would prefer BRTS instead of having stress of driving on my own facing traffic on the way. Water supply has been great. No need to worry about water in the morning at my place. I can concentrate on other things. The nearest garden is now at five minute walking distance, just across the street. Two more new gardens have come up at around half a km distance; One is Haren Pandya garden, and another a Senior citizen garden. Both are well kept and well maintained. Children can enjoy number of rides in any of two. The city is still dusty, but in our area, the AMC has completed wall to wall paving, thanks to which there’s lesser dust compare to past. The AMC has opened a new swimming pool just at one km distance from my place. Going to Sardar Patel stadium for swimming is past. Also there’s a new Civic centre there at less than half km distance from my place. Most of the procedural tasks are tackled there with the help of networked computers. No need to go to AMC office located few km away. The new garbage collection system is more efficient. A person on big rickshaw visits our street in the morning and blow a whistle loudly(however now the loud voice of rickshaw engine is also enough). He collects the garbage from a bag that we put outside our house.

So things have definitely much improved around me. And I think I must elect BJP to power again in AMC elections.

But my life is obviously not limited to just one km area around me. I move out beyond this area for professional commitments. I roam around for other works, tasks, entertainment, social reasons, leisure and more in few more km radius area. And therefore in subsequent paragraphs, let me judge the BJP administration in AMC, keeping larger picture of the city in my mind.

Being Urban

Once upon a time it was troublesome and boring to travel between Maninagar and west Ahmedabad. One had to pass through Jamalpur to reach Maninagar, facing narrow roads, and too much traffic. However now, west Ahmedabad and Maninagar are smoothly connected through a new river bridge and wide roads, thanks to BRTS lane. During the BJP administration, not only this but many new routes have come up. In past if you wanted to go to Satellite from Dharnidhar, only one option was to pass through Shreyas crossing. But BJP administration gave us Jivraj Park over bridge, and opened up a new route.

Let me go beyond few kilometers radius, while judging the BJP administration. Execution of Sardar Patel ring road project shows futuristic vision of the people in power. Once passing through Sardar bridge, or Ellis bridge was dangerous due to single lane construction. Thanks to BJP in power, both bridges are now wider. Keeping heritage in mind, the central portion of old Ellis bridge has been kept intact. This was a good decision. I remember, how the city of Ahmedabad once had to be dependent on Dharoi and Raska water projects. Thanks to BJP government, the dry and cricket-ground-like Sabarmati river is now full of water round the year. The Kankaria lake front and Sabarmati river front project are excellent. S.G. Highway is nicely designed with provision of side lanes, garden lane and new over bridges. BRTS is of course useful. New buses of AMTS are more comfortable than the old ones. Town hall and Tagore hall were renovated during the BJP administration. The city got a heritage walk and city museum during BJP regime. Old Sardar Patel stadium is now in good condition. The AMC is now in process to beautify Khari Cut canal, and introducing water sports, urban forestry, moving tower etc. There are many more works that can be mentioned here, but such act would stretch the article to boring length.

On flip side

Now this was the story about my personal good experiences as a voter, but all people may not have similar opinion. The periphery area of Ahmedabad, across Narol-Naroda highway developed haphazardly in last few years. There’s no system existing there. There’s a whole new illegal Ahmedabad out there. On C.G. Road, the buildings were permitted for nursing home, and they actually turned out to become shopping centers. Thanks to ‘fixing’ with the AMC, parking space of most of the buildings are are converted into shops. Public hospitals are not as efficient as they should be. Thanks to that, many private hospitals with costly services have come up. Most of the projects taken up by the AMC are delayed. A bridge connecting Vadaj and Dudheshwar is half complete for last three years. Parimal crossing undebridge is another example of delayed works. The AMC has not been able to solve the problem of hawkers. The administration is also not acting as efficiently as it should be on hygiene issues. Sabarmati River Front work is progressing at too slow pace. Elected members not only go on foreign tours spending public money, but when they return, they don’t bring anything new to the city. Corruption at upper level is intact(but almost vanished at lower level when it comes to public dealings). When it comes to the actions to control stray dogs and cows, the AMC has not worked well.

On ideological side

Ideologically, most of the Gujaratis will go and vote for Narendra Modified BJP. People know that if they vote for BJP, Mr. Narendra Modi will take care of their votes. He will select right persons and will control the administration well when need arises. The elected as well as administrative body will work under fear of the Chief Minister. Also worth mentioning is the typical Amdavadi Hindu way of thinking. Congress party will win mostly in minority dominated areas. If Congress comes to power, a big group of minority community Councillors will lobby for their community in every possible delivery. Last time when Congress was in power, the party selected Muslims for two top posts of Chairman of Standing Committee and Mayor. The Mayor installed Mother Teresa’s statue on recommendation of Christian missionary groups, blocking traffic near busy and narrow road of Bhadra circle. Almost all hospitals were virtually dominated and influenced by minority community corporators of ruling party. Most of the Muslim patients were not paying for treatment, thanks to Congress Councillors recommending so. Builders and contractors of certain community flourished and prospered in Congress regime. The main problem was that, all development works were on halt, or remained nonstarter thanks to monetary mismanagement. The city clearly wasted its five years during Congress administration. Nothing significant happened during this period. Even on regional and national issues, BJP’s ideology is more logical and correct. From Sohrabuddin to Kashmir, all issues bring an average common voter closer to BJP. Such fctors also influence my voting instinct.