Thursday thriller on the cards: Mahayuti vs Thackeray cousins in BMC battle

MUMBAI: Mumbai’s voters finally get a chance to elect their own corporators to India’s richest civic body after an unprecedented gap of nine years due to the pandemic and a spate of court cases.

The BMC has been governed by the municipal commissioner, a state-appointed administrator, since the term of the previous house ended four years ago. On Thursday, it will go to the polls along with 28 other municipal corporations whose terms have similarly expired.This is a high-stakes election in a civic body which was controlled by the undivided Shiv Sena for 26 consecutive years.For Uddhav Thackeray whose Shiv Sena (UBT) was routed in the state assembly polls, this is a battle for survival in the city where the party was born.

The election brought Uddhav and his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray together in an alliance after two decades. They will face off against the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP and deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.

The BJP, which swept the assembly polls, seeks to annex the last bastion of its former ally-turned foe while Shinde’s party hopes to consolidate its base as the “real Sena”, especially in the MumbaiThane belt.

The Congress which once held power in the city has seen its hold weaken and is contesting in alliance with the Prakash Ambedkarled Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi while Ajit Pawar’s NCP which has little presence in the city is contesting solo.With 82 corporators in the 2017 BMC polls, the BJP was only two seats behind the undivided Shiv Sena. A Mahayuti win now will mean that a national party will control different layers of governance through its “triple engine sarkar” from the Centre to the state and the BMC.

This will be a blow to the relevance of regional parties in the state and the Opposition’s ability to hold ruling parties accountable.In a city which faces a host of civic concerns ranging from housing to air pollution, the campaign centered around identity politics this time. In spite of the large migrant population in the city, the status of the Marathi manoos became a key issue with the Thackerays alleging that the sons of the soil were being displaced from Mumbai.

Chief minister Fadnavis has consistently argued that his govt has managed to retain the Marathi manoos in Mumbai by providing jobs and housing.The campaign even turned communal with city BJP chief Ameet Satam stating, “We will not allow any Khan to become mayor.” Indeed, Fadnavis later said, “the next Mumbai mayor will be Hindu and Marathi.” Allegations of money being used to bribe voters were also made. According to the State Election Commission, cash worth Rs 7 crore was seized while the Model Code of Conduct was in force across the 29 municipal corporations.In their manifestos, most political parties offered pre-poll sops, mainly to women voters who are credited with powering the Mahayuti victory in the assembly polls. While the Mahayuti alliance promised a 50% concession on bus travel, the SS UBT-MNS combine promised a Rs 1,500 allowance for women domestic workers and a property tax waiver for homes upto 700 square feet. Indeed, the Mahayuti govt tried to disburse a double installment of its flagship Ladki Bahin scheme to women voters just days before the poll.

Amid complaints of bribery by the Opposition Congress, the SEC barred the January installment.