Shiv Sena worker Sachin Sawant (second from left) was shot dead in Mumbai.

MUMBAI: The murder of a Shiv Sainik is a grim reminder of the growing neta-SRA builder nexus which has reached alarming proportions, especially in the suburbs, replacing the cable war, said analysts.

Observers said the number of Sena middle-rung functionaries—vibhag pramukhs and shakha pramukhs, for instance—collaborating with builders on SRA schemes is high. Many Sena MLAs too have informally teamed up with builders to reap benefits of the slum scheme.

“Lure for money prompts politicians to seal partnership with builders. The trick is to huddle slumdwellers or residents of dilapidated chawls into apoorly built SRA apartment, a pigeonhole, while the builder concentrates on towers which fetch huge money,” said Santosh Dhuri, MNS worker from central Mumbai.

Asked if he too was a partner in an SRA project, Dhuri laughed, “Sena workers have left nothing for us.” Builders prefer having Sena activists on board as the party rules BMC . “A Sena activist can pull strings, get permissions,” said a retired civic official.

“There have been cases where Sainiks have helped builders alter SRA apartment’s blueprint or gain excess area and mint money,” he said, adding, “This is a version of extortion.”

In many cases, MLAs and corporators demand at least 5% share in the scheme, it is learnt. With clout in wards, local netas play a key role in cementing the SRA deal between residents and builder. But netas at times bear the brunt of a deal gone sour or rivals plotting to thwart a project. “Sena faces the risk of losing its men to SRA rivalries,” said a partyman from the western suburbs.

