For birthday boy Sanjay Nirupam, Mumbai rules are broken

Mumbai: Less than a year ago, following the Bombay High Court's orders, Mumbai had reason to believe that their skyline had been reclaimed and would be free of illegal and ugly political posters and banners.

But that's a dream that remains short lived. Today, it was his 50th birthday and Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam's party workers left no stone unturned to publicly wish the birthday boy.

So be it if the law and the Bombay High Court's ire be damned. All across Nirupam's North Mumbai constituency, the Congress put up banners and posters wishing their leader in total defiance of civic laws. Trees, traffic signals, lamp posts and street corners were all plastered with birthday wishes printed in English, Hindi and Gujarati.

The posters all screamed one unoriginal theme: "Yeh Dil Maange More. Agitations, Morchas, Hunger Strikes to improve the Mumbaikars quality of life... (sic)."

But it's lost to no one that more than wishing him, it's an attempt to gain pre-election publicity as more than anything else the banners are claims of what the MP has done in the past five years. Posters put up by the North Mumbai District Congress read: "Deemed Conveyance, Health Camps, Power Tariff, Railway Issues, Job Fairs, Women Empowerment, Gas Cylinder, Pipe Gas Connects, Water Issues, Basic Amenities."

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"This is completely illegal. The Bombay High Court orders were clear. This is being done as elections are approaching. They aren't birthday wishes. And BMC officials have turned a blind eye," alleged Akhilesh Chaubey, MNS leader from the area.

Confirming the illegality, local licensing officer Mahendra Shirke told NDTV it would act. "Following the court's order no permissions are being given. These are illegal and we are removing them," Mr Shirke said.

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Mr Nirupam's mobile had been re-directed to his residence but his personal assistant Bandu said they were "aware it was not allowed but we are helpless as it is the enthusiasm and love of party workers for Sanjayji."

About a year ago, Mumbai's municipal corporation, the BMC, was given an ultimatum of 24 hours by the high court to remove all illegal political posters or face action. In record time, the BMC removed 5,065 posters in Mumbai and a total of 15,000 banners were brought down across the state by all concerned civic bodies.

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The court had then remarked that the responsibility was not just of the corporation but also of the local police and political leaders.

So, is Mr Sanjay Nirupam "responsible"enough to ask his supporters to follow the high courts observations?

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