BMC polls will decide Thackeray’s future, bring back power to citizens
Leaders from all parties were unanimous that the polls would bring back the checks and balances in the civic body’s functioning
MUMBAI: The forthcoming BMC polls, enabled by the Supreme Court’s Tuesday order permitting the holding of local body elections in Maharashtra, are set to be one of the most significant civic elections ever for both political parties and Mumbai citizens who have not had a voice in three years.
On the political front, the elections will be a battle of survival for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and its chief Uddhav Thackeray, and a matter of prestige for deputy CM Eknath Shinde and CM Devendra Fadnavis who want to end the ‘Thackeray era’ in Mumbai. On the civic front, they will bring back the checks and balances in the governance of the country’s richest civic body with a budget over ₹74,000 crore.
The five-year term of the BMC’s elected body ended on March 7, 2022 and for the last three years, the civic body has been under the rule of government-appointed administrators. Back then, in a House of 227, the undivided Shiv Sena had 97 corporators, the BJP had 83, the Congress 29, the NCP eight, the Samajwadi Party (SP) six, the AIMIM two and the MNS one. This time around, Thackeray will face a big challenge, as over 40 corporators have left him to join Shinde.
Leaders from all parties were unanimous that the polls would bring back the checks and balances in the civic body’s functioning. They pointed out that if there had been elected representatives, the BMC’s expenditure of ₹1,500 crore on Mumbai ‘beautification’ and ₹6,000 crore on cement roads would have been done with more responsibility. “Not just the opposition, BJP members too raised questions on these works,” said a former corporator.
MNS Mumbai president and once-corporator Sandeep Deshpande, said that people needed corporators to solve their local problems such as water, electricity and garbage. “In the administrators’ regime, citizens did not know whom to approach,” he said. “Even ward officials would pay scant attention if people approached them. In the last three years, local officials have been arbitrary in deciding the importance of civic works and have spent money on unnecessary projects.”
Kishori Pednekar, former BMC mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, pointed out that in the absence of elected corporators, the state government, through BMC administrators, utilised money from the ₹90,000-crore funds invested in fixed deposits. Pednekar also alleged that the ruling parties, through the administrator, ensured that wards belonging to opposition party leaders did not get funds for works while those of the ruling parties got priority.
A former senior BMC official, on condition of anonymity, said that political conflicts among elected representatives ensured less corruption in the civic body. “Although corporators from all parties are often hand-in-glove on financial matters related to BMC works, all of them keep an eye on one another and raise their voice on disproportionate expenditure and allocation,” he said. “This helps to some extent in keeping corruption and irregularities in check. For example, the ₹1,700-crore road scam in the BMC was exposed due to complaints from corporators regarding the poor-quality work on roads.”
Political analyst Prakash Akolkar contended that the BMC polls would play a decisive role in Uddhav Thackeray’s future. “The Shiv Sena and its founder Bal Thackeray grew on the basis of the BMC and Thane municipal corporations,” he said. “The Sena was in power in the state only once, but the party and Thackeray family survived due to their control over the BMC. Now, after the assembly polls, if Uddhav Thackeray loses the BMC battle, it will spell the end of their politics.”
Abhay Deshpande, another political analyst, said that although Uddhav lost the assembly polls, of his 20 MLAs, 10 were from Mumbai. “This underlines that he still has ground in the BMC,” he said. “If he succeeds in allying with MNS chief Raj Thackeray, it will give both the advantage of mobilising Marathi voters. But then there will arise the question of whether the Congress will continue with Uddhav.”
Deshpande said that the BMC election would be “a battle of prestige” for Eknath Shinde who had ensured the defection of over 40 BMC corporators to his side. “If Thackeray manages to retain the BMC, it will have a long-term adverse effect on Shinde’s politics,” he said. “The BJP, however, has an edge in these polls on account of its past performance and Shinde’s 40 corporators.”
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