The BJP's sweeping victory in Delhi is prompting the party's Mumbai unit to press for early elections to the 277-member Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).
City BJP vice-president and veteran corporator Ravi Raja told the Free Press Journal that for far too long the metropolis has been without elected representatives in the civic body. “The last elections were held in February 2017 and the term of corporators elected then ended in March 2022. How long can the city be run without corporators,” he asked. Many former corporators resent the fact that the MCGM with a budget of almost Rs75,000 crore is being run by bureaucrats.
It is felt that the administration has failed to tackle several important issues, including the large number of illegal structures in all the 24 administrative wards, takeover of footpaths and roads by unauthorized hawkers, slow pace of road concretisation, air pollution, illegal food stalls and haphazard reconstruction of storm water drains. What is worse is that the civic officials in MWest and other wards do not act against illegal structures despite complaints from the citizens. The Supreme Court has mandated that the complaints against unauthorised structures should be attended to immediately. Yet, little action is being taken by ward officers.
Parag Alavani, BJP legislator from Vile Parle, said, “I expect the civic polls to be held in May. Legal possibility of expediting the litigation pending in the Supreme Court should be explored and the polls shouldbe held at the earliest.” Another BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said, “We want early polls and are confident of sweeping Mumbai.”
Asked about the matter pertaining to the BMC delimitation, etc, pending before the top court, Bhatkhalkar said, “Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has moved the apex court. As for my party, we are ready for elections anytime.” Ex-party MLA said, “The state government should constitute a powerful legal team and get the matterheard early by the Supreme Court. I do not know what it is waiting for.”
The victory in the assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and now in Delhi has buoyed the confidence of the BJP cadres and they are convinced that the party will secure a thumping majority on the basis of its own strength. However, the party will be required to contest the polls under the Mahayuti banner. Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, can be expected to win a few seats in the city, while Ajit Pawar's NCP has little organisational presence in the metropolis.
As for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), it is still undecided if it should face the polls jointly or individually. Shiv Sena (UBT) is keen on going alone and many in the Congress also are of the opinion that the party should not join hands with the saffron party for the polls. The NCP (Sharad Pawar) does not have much political clout in the city. In all probably, the MVA constituents may not jointly go to the polls, but would like to test their strength in their individual capacity. The sharp differences within the MVA will only make the BJP's task easier.
Meanwhile, hectic lobbying has started in the BJP for tickets to contest the elections.Also, many workers from other parties are also keen on joining the BJP, which is on a winning spree.
