Whose idea is it anyway? Uddhav, Raj Thackeray start WiFi war at Shivaji Park

On the face of it, the warring Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are squabbling most recently over who will provide WiFi services at Shivaji Park, Central Mumbai’s big green lung where thousands of evening walkers, cricket enthusiasts, cyclists and others spend long hours. The idea came from the Shiv Sena stable, and party chief Uddhav Thackeray announced two weeks ago that the BMC would son provide free WiFi to citizens. On Tuesday, however, it was his cousin and arch-rival Raj Thackeray who inaugurated the WiFi service. Raj’s son Amit, who reportedly spoke recently about what a great idea WiFi in Shivaji Park would be, was present along with Sharmila, Raj’s wife.

It’s actually the start of what will be a long and bitter four months for the two Senas before the Assembly elections are held. And much of the bitterness, it appears now, could be centred around Shivaji Park, the crucible of the Shiv Sena and a matter of prestige for the MNS to win over.

Over the last few years, the politically sensitive Shivaji Park has grown into the chief battle-ground for the two Senas and has witnessed fierce competition between the two parties to get projects going. The Shiv Sena and the MNS were both born at Shivaji Park, 40 years apart. Till 2009, the locality dominated by Maharashtrians voted loyally for the Shiv Sena but switched over to the MNS in 2009 by electing Nitin Sardesai from the MNS as their local MLA. In the 2012 elections to the municipality, all six corporators elected from the region were from the MNS.

It was during that 2012 civic election that the Shiv Sena made a promise to make all of Mumbai WiFi-enabled. A year ago, the Sena announced that it would set up free Wi-Fi connectivity at Shivaji Park, as a model project, before introducing it across the rest of the city. The project made little progress after the announcement.

Sensing an opportunity, the MNS’s Shivaji Park corporator Sandeep Deshpande began laying cables in the park last week. The Shiv Sena immediately objected and asked the BMC to register an FIR against Deshpande for laying cables ‘illegally’. It appeared briefly that the MNS’s project had been stalled. Subsequently, the MNS changed the plan and installed the high-powered aerial routers on roof-tops across Shivaji Park, including on the terrace of Raj’s residence, Krishna Kunj, to dodge BMC rules.

According to the MNS, citizens can use the services for three hours a day with a speed of 2048 kbps. Citizens can use the service from anywhere in the park or the walking track along the periphery of the park. “We are launching the WiFi service along with a mobile application that will help us get data about mobile numbers. And this can be used during the Assembly election for campaigning,” Sandeep Deshpande, the local MNS corporator, told Firstpost.

On Sunday, the MNS chief also inaugurated the WiFi service on Hanuman Road in Vile Parle, suburban Mumbai. The BMC duly objected, and asked the MNS to provide details about permissions taken to install the WiFi. “Since we are not using underground cables we don’t require any permission from the BMC. Our service provider has all the necessary clearances from the telecom ministry and the police. The BMC has no jurisdiction to stop us. The BMC is just acting under pressure from the the ruling Shiv Sena. However, their plans have backfired,” said Deshpande, accusing the Shiv Sena of only making announcements and fails to fulfill their promises.

But it’s the Shivaji Park WiFi project that has got the Sena’s goat. After all, the MNS chief launched the project at Shivaji PArk, literally under the nose of Mumbai’s mayor, whose official bungalow is located across the park. Needless to say, it is a huge embarrassment for the Shiv Sena.“It is the failure of the Mayor as he failed to keep an eye on the MNS especially in Shivaji Park. Uddhavji is upset with Prabhu and we will now have to think of ways to hit back at the MNS,” said a senior Shiv Sena leader, referring to Sunil Prabhu, Mumbai’s mayor and longtime Shiv Sena corporator.

Interestingly, in a desperate attempt to save face, the Aditya Thackeray-led Yuva Sena also launched its own free WiFi service in the Shivaji Park area just half an before Raj Thackeray inaugurated the MNS’s WiFi service. While the Sena did not have any formal function, it put up banners publicizing their service across the Shivaji Park. “The WiFi was Adityaji’s brainchild but the MNS stole our plan. We started the WiFi service before the MNS on Tuesday and our service is available to residents free of cost for 24*7 unlike the MNS’s which is just for three hours,” said Samadhan Sarvankar, local Yuva Sena activist.