AAP eyes Mumbai municipal polls

After the landslide victory in Delhi Assembly elections, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is zeroing in on Mumbai, where the civic body – one of the biggest and richest in the world – goes to polls in 2017.

The elections to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), as it is known popularly, is always a keenly contested battle and is currently controlled by the Shiv Sena, with the help of BJP.

However, the volatile political scenario in view of the constant rift between BJP and Shiv Sena, who run the saffron alliance government in Maharashtra, the AAP would have a major role to play. As a matter of fact, for the Delhi polls, the maximum number of volunteers trooped from Mumbai.

“The scenario would be different in 2017.  The relations between Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena  (MNS) President Raj Thackeray have improved. The Congress and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would be trying to make its presence felt in the corporation and then there would be rejuvenated AAP,” political analysts said. Top AAP functionaries – Mayank Gandhi, Anjali Damania, Meera Sanyal and Preeti Sharma Menon – are working towards the 2017 goal.

“AAP did not perform well in Maharashtra despite contesting in a big way in the Lok Sabha polls and preferred not to contest the Vidhan Sabha elections. The Delhi victory has come as a boost to the anti-corruption movement and AAP,” the analysts pointed out.

“As of now, we would be strengthening the party organisation in Mumbai and other metros. In Mumbai, we have a good support base and this include a cross-section of people of different communities and background,” an AAP leader said, pointing out that for the common man corruption in the civic body is a major issue.

The AAP is also planning to  contest elections to other civic bodies like Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Kalyan Dombivli that are scheduled for later this year.

“The year 2017 is big as 10 big corporations would be going to polls which include Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur besides Ulhasnagar, Amravati, Akola, Solapur and Pimpri-Chinchwad,” an analyst said.