BMC POLLS: MISSION MUMBAI
On January 29, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray unveiled the first driverless coach of the Mumbai Metro. The moment was significant in light of the controversy that rages over the future of the three metro lines in the city. The Thackerayled Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is fighting a legal battle with the Centre over possession of a 210 acre plot of land in Kanjurmarg, where the metro car depot is supposed to be built.
While inaugurating the coach, Thackeray called the metro a future attraction for Mumbai. “I was criticised for staying works but that is not true…you can see that work on a lot of public infrastructure is nearing completion,” he said. Critics say Thackeray’s enthusiasm is directly linked to the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) election, due in February 2022. The BMC happens to be the richest civic body in Asia, with an annual budget of Rs 39,000 crore. The Shiv Sena has kept a tight grip on the BMC ever since Uddhav’s debut in electoral politics in 1997. This time, political observers believe he faces a stiff challenge from the BJP, which has greatly expanded its base in the city in the past couple of years.
The driverless coach will run on the DahisarD.N. Nagar metro line 2A and DahisarAndheri East metro line 7, which are scheduled to open in May. Thackeray says the next 34 years are important for the city as many metro corridors will start operations.
The Thackeray government has other city infrastructure and beautification projects lined up over the next year or so, which Uddhav must hope will demonstrate his commitment to the city ahead of the BMC poll. Also, in a visible departure from his earlier practice of mainly working from his personal/ official residence, he is now making frequent field visits. On December 27 last year, he inspected the work on the 29.2 km coastal road, which connects south Mumbai to the north through the sea route. On January 11, he revisited the spot at Priyadarshini Park in south Mumbai to launch a coastal road tunnel boring machine, which he named the ‘Mavla’ (a soldier in Shivaji’s army). The road is expected to open by July 2023. Two days later, Thackeray reviewed the progress of two important city projects, the BandraVersova Sea Link (BVSL) and its extension till Virar. The 43 km sealink will be completed in two phases by 2025. Once open, it will reduce travel time between Nariman Point in south Mumbai and Virar in Palghar district— a distance of 90 km—to one hour from the current three hours.
A month after taking over as chief minister on November 28, 2019, Thackeray had instructed bureaucrats to focus on Mumbai’s beautification. “If someone takes a bird’s eye view of Mumbai, he will find cables hanging on
THE SHIV SENA’S HOLD OVER THE BMC, ASIA’S RICHEST CIVIC BODY, IS BEING CONTESTED BY THE BJP, WHICH HAS EXPANDED GREATLY IN MUMBAI
roads and dirty pavements,” Thackeray, also an avid wildlife photographer, said at a meeting. A facelift for the city has been on the agenda ever since and several traffic islands, flyovers and bridges are getting a makeover.
On January 28, the CM launched a heritage walk programme at the iconic BMC building, situated in front of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a world heritage site. The walk is designed as a tour of the historic building from where Mumbai’s administration has run since 1885. The tour lasts an hour and includes a questionandanswer session at the end. The heritage tours will be conducted on the weekends and citizens, who are otherwise not allowed into restricted areas, can book tickets for Rs 300.
Nipping at Uddhav’s heels, however, is the BJP whose rise can be judged from the party’s performance in the assembly as well as BMC election. The party had 16 MLAs from the city (out of 36) in the 2019 election while the Sena maintained its 2014 tally of 14. As for the BMC poll, in 2017, the BJP (82) fell only two seats short of the Sena’s tally of 84. This is a phenomenal rise considering the saffron party had only 32 members in the previous elections in 2012.
The 2022 BMC poll will test Thackeray’s mettle as the BJP is likely to have an alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), another champion of Marathi votes. “If the BJP does not object, we are ready for an alliance,” says Bala Nandgaonkar, secondincommand in the MNS. If the party manages to cut into the Shiv Sena’s vote share, the BJP will gain, and might even emerge the singlelargest party.
Thackeray is aware of this. He has already begun talks with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) about joining hands for the BMC election. Observers say such an alliance could hurt the Sena’s Hindu support base. The Mumbai Congress president, Ashok Jagtap, has already made it clear that his party will go solo in the election. Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut says the party’s position in Mumbai is stronger than before: “Mumbai has always voted for the Shiv Sena. The next election will not be an exception.” Atul Bhatkhalkar of the BJP, who is in charge of Mumbai, has other ideas though. “Mumbai needs a change if it’s looking for good governance,” he says. “We are the only option.”
Thackeray may review his BMC strategy after the next phase of municipal corporation elections in Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Kalyan-Dombivli, VasaiVirar and Kolhapur. These are likely to be held in March. Uddhav is also trying to woo the city’s Gujarati voters, sending out signals that he is an inclusive leader. If the Sena wins the Navi Mumbai and Aurangabad corporations, he will continue with his inclusive politics. A defeat, though, might push him back to his ‘Marathi manoos’ agenda.