The Hindu Business Line : Dimming the limelight on messiah of small investors

NEITHER the tens of thousands of e-mails, SMSs and recorded telephone messages sent to his voters, nor his 10-member temporary call centre at his election office could save the Mumbai North-East seat for BJP candidate and sitting member of Parliament Mr Kirit Somiaya who lost by more than 99,000 votes to Congress candidate Mr Gurudas Kamat.

As the self-styled messiah of small investors, Mr Somaiya is a regular pop-up in the city during times of business controversy and turmoil, raising complaints and demanding enquiries and explanations of corporates, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the State Government or other authorities. When there are no business issues, health projects, alleged health scams and related issues kept him in the limelight

In contrast, Mr Kamat is a man scarcely seen as very active in public except when the parliamentary elections come around, although he heads the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee. Still Mr Kamat won, in keeping with his record of winning every alternate Lok Sabha election from his constituency. Mr Kamat had famously defeated BJP leader Mr Pramod Mahajan in 1998 but lost his seat in 1999 to Mr Somaiya.

Part of the reason for Mr Somaiya's defeat is that this time Mr Kamat was supported by both the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, as well as a couple of other groups. During the 1999 elections, the NCP had contested separately, eating up almost one-lakh votes from the ballot boxes.

In his campaign this year, Mr Kamat promised drinking water, opposed privatisation of public sector units, alleged corruption in Mr Somaiya's health schemes and taken credit for some infrastructure projects in his constituency which work, he claimed, was started in his time but reached completion during Mr Somaiya's tenure.

Mr Somaiya too claimed credit for various infrastructure projects, but the effect of anti-incumbency as well as the combined clout of Congress and NCP proved too much for him.

In or out of Government, Mr Somaiya will continue to needle corporates, said a senior corporate official. "In Government, he will need to be appeased, and out of Government he cannot be appeased."

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