Mumbai: To help voters make an informed decision, citizen activists in Mumbai have launched BMCElection.org — a civic engagement platform for the upcoming BMC elections. It brings together a citizen’s audit of BMC promises versus reality from 2017 to 2025, a citizen’s manifesto, simple tools to email all political parties with clear demands, information on candidates and clear guidance on how to vote.
Citizens Present a 10-Point Manifesto Highlighting Key Urban Issues
The platform states a 10-demand citizen manifesto which includes demands like fiscal transparency, right to water and sanitation, mobility for all, ecology, air and heat, right to housing, health and social inclusion, and digital rights.
The objective of the platform is to reclaim decision-making on forests and mangroves, public transport, health, housing, budgets, and democratic accountability. “The forthcoming BMC elections arrive at a defining moment for India's financial capital. For nearly four years, the city has been ruled under an "Administrator Raj," which has centralised power and severely eroded democratic accountability over the nation's wealthiest municipal body, controlling a staggering budget of Rs 74,427 crore,” it says.
Fiscal Audit Reveals Significant Decline in BMC’s Financial Health
Under its Fiscal Health chapter, the platform highlights that the period from 2017 to 2025 marks a definitive paradigm shift in the BMC's financial management—from a "Surplus-Accumulating Entity" to a "Deficit-Financing Entity”, with its fixed deposits plummeting from a peak of Rs 91,690 crore in 2021-22 to approximately Rs 81,774 Crore by late 2024—a depletion of over Rs 9,900 crore in three years. There has been a structural shift in ‘Priorities’ as the allocation for the Mega Road and Infrastructure projects is more than Health and Education.
It also summarises the difference in governance of “Thackeray Era (2017 to 2022) and BJP-Shinde Sena Era (2022-2025)” on the environment-related issues, decisions to Metro Carsheds in Aarey and Kanjumarg, master plan on SGNP and eco-sensitive zones, Mumbai Climate Action Plan and others.
BMCElection.org is a citizen-volunteer initiative, and citizens can visit the website for a detailed citizens’ audit on BMC, a manifesto and a guide to vote.
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