Battlelines getting drawn for BMC

With the results of the Assembly polls of Gujarat of Himachal Pradesh and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) out, battlelines are getting drawn for the forthcoming elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The Mumbai civic body polls are one of the keenly-contested local bodies elections in the country with very high political stakes.

The politics in the BMC - the richest and one of the biggest corporations in India has been dominated by the Shiv Sena for over a quarter of a century.

Coming back to the BMC is a big challenge for Uddhav Thackeray, who now heads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

On one side is the combination of BJP, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-headed Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, and Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India faction.

As far as Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is concerned - the Thackeray-led SS (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have decided to principally go together, however, the Congress is yet to formally convey its stand. "Opinion within the party is divided on the issue and we would take a call in the days to come," a senior Congressman said.

On the other hand, Thackeray has opened a channel of dialogue with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). However, while the SS (UBT)-VBA has principally agreed to have an alliance, it is not yet clear whether it would be a grand alliance within the ambit of MVA.

As of now, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has announced its decision to go alone.

However, one of the big factors that would emerge is the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been doing the groundwork for the past year.

One of the major things would be the 17 December MVA march from the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan And Zoo at Byculla and end at the historic Azad Maidan, during which the opposition parties would raise the issue of Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s comments on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the flight of big tickets projects to Gujarat and unemployment situation.

MVA allies like Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Peasants & Workers Party (PWP) too would be part of the protest.

Top leaders including Thackeray, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Ajit Pawar of NCP, his counterpart in Council Ambadas Danve of Shiv Sena, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut has met to finalise the strategy.

Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have increased their focus on civic polls and have launched a Mumbai beautification project. While 187 projects were launched on Thursday, around 500 would be launched on Saturday by Shinde and Fadnavis. “The BJP will win the polls with its alliance partners,” said Fadnavis.

Mumbai BJP President Mangal Prabhat Lodha: “We all have seen the Gujarat results. We will see similar landslide results in Mumbai as well.”

It may be mentioned, the Shinde-Fadnavis government ordered a probe by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into the affairs of the BMC over the past few years which includes works worth Rs 12,000 core during the series of the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.