Did you deliver on promises, Mumbai-based NGO asks BJP and Shiv Sena

Ahead of the Maharashtra state Assembly elections 2019, a Mumbai-based non-government organisation (NGO) has questioned the ruling parties on their five-year performance based on the poll promises made before the previous state elections in 2014.

MumbaiVotes has sent a questionnaire to the spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, based on their 2014 state election manifestos. The organisation works towards providing details of all candidates to voters to make an informed choice on election day.

The questionnaire includes some prominent promises made by the two parties which had fought the 2014 Assembly election separately. For instance, the 2014 BJP manifesto included digitisation of all government office work and providing wi-fi access in all villages. One of the promises by the Sena was to build world-class solar energy centres in Maharashtra using idle land. It had also promised to make the state a business and agricultural hub.

Avinay Umesh Sanyogita, a researcher from MumbaiVotes, said, “We have mailed an e-form to the spokespersons and also asked for documents supporting their answers. This way, the parties can tell citizens about their deliverance on promises. We have 10 lakh registered voters on the MumbaiVotes website itself.” The replies will be added to the MLA report card which will be released by the organisation before the elections which are likely to be held in October.

The organisation had also conducted a similar exercise before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, however, it did not receive any reply from the sitting members of Parliament from Mumbai or their spokespersons.

This time around, the organisation sent the questionnaire to Manisha Kayande from Shiv Sena and Atul Shah and Keshav Upadhye from the BJP in the first week of August and is yet to receive a response from them.

When HT contacted Kayande and Upadhye, they said they did not receive any mails but will check again. Atul Shah from the BJP said that he will reply to the questionnaire as the state government has “fulfilled much more than it had promised”.