With the long-awaited Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on the horizon, the city’s political pulse quickened on Thursday as The Free Press Journal (FPJ), in association with Mark Your Presence, hosted a high-octane Town Hall. The event brought together heavyweights from across the political spectrum to face their most discerning critics – the youth of Mumbai, who sought accountability and a clear vision from the political parties.
All Parties Share Vision
The forum served as a rare platform where representatives from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and the Aam Aadmi Party sat side-by-side to pitch their visions for the city’s future. The atmosphere was electric as students and young professionals from across the 227 wards grilled the leaders on issues ranging from the pothole-ridden roads to the soaring cost of living and the lack of affordable recreational spaces.
BJP Focuses on Youth
The political parties reflected on the vision to prioritise the youth and utilise their talent in forming policies. Pratik Karpe, BJP's Mumbai secretary, stated that the party has prioritised young candidates for the elections, with 27% below the age of 40, and a total of 61% below the age of 50 years. Moreover, he also highlighted that the party will form a 50-member team of GenZs, who will help it in policy making.
GenZ Leadership Highlighted
“We take GenZ in a positive way. We actually are on the way where we are making our youth workers into leaders. We have examples like Tejasvi Surya, Maithili Thakur and K Annamalai, who actually get stage and they don't have any political lineage before. We are a party which is actually young,” he said.
Shiv Sena UBT’s Financial Claims
The Shiv Sena UBT tried to persuade the youth with the financial figures of the civic body. The party's spokesperson Akhil Chitre claimed that the Shiv Sena, due to the financial management of Uddhav Thackeray, could lead the BMC from a cash deficit of Rs600 crore to a surplus of Rs92,000 crore. He added that it led to the possibility of the Coastal Road, Malabar Hill Walkway, Gorai's mangrove park and other public infrastructure. He also highlighted the city's unique health infrastructure and the Mumbai Public School model.
Infrastructure and Climate Plans
Shiv Sena (UBT) pressed that it plans to prioritise the climate change program in its manifesto. It so highlighted its plan of getting the BEST back to its old glory along with a focus on water pipeline infrastructure. “The Mumbai Public School has been a great hit and will extend it to junior college, by extending it till Class 12,” said Chitre.
NCP Focuses on Housing
NCP (SP), which has the least number of candidates in the BMC election, stressed on the issues of urban housing for Mumbai's youth. From the party's election manifesto, national spokesperson Anish Gawande highlighted that the party plans to create a MHADA-like housing authority under the BMC for the youth's aspirations of owning a home, along with affordable rental housing for youth wishing to move out of their home.
Animal Welfare and Transport
The party also highlighted its manifesto points of launching pet ambulances and services for stray dogs to ensure that they are vaccinated, sterilised and returned back to their spots before the city reaches a crisis level, citing the situation in Delhi. It also plans to add 10,000 buses in the city to enhance the last-mile connectivity.
Education and Healthcare Concerns
“When the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance was in power in the BMC, you had IB curriculums being introduced into BMC schools. On the flip side, today you're seeing BMC schools being converted into CBSE curriculums from an SSC curriculum that was once vibrant and dynamic. It's an alliance that believes that while you should have a Rs 13,000 crore coaster road, you should also have at least Rs300 crores for government hospitals that can ensure that you don't have people waiting in the corridors while they need treatment,” said Gawande.
Pollution and Green Initiatives
Shiv Sena said that it has acted upon a survey conducted among GenZs, which revealed that pollution is the core issue that impacts their lives. The party spokesperson Shaina NC said that the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde announced a package of Rs17,000 crores for green initiatives, 5,000 electric buses and 411km metro network.
Civic Amenities and Housing Achievements
“We have done and delivered, whether it is the BDD Chawl, where locals were actually pushed out of Mumbai and have come back to live here or 17,000 homes given in Ramabai Nagar. We have worked tirelessly for the citizens on civic amenities, housing, health care, education, scholarships from BMC school so you can go to an IV league. The list is endless,” said Shaina.
AAP Promises Youth Empowerment
AAP's Reuben Mascarenhas claimed that it is the youngest party in India and it believes to actually empower the youth and 40% of its candidates are below the age of 40 years. The party's working president Reuben Mascarenhas raised concerns over Mumbai's collapsing infrastructure, increasing pollution and declining number of public schools, despite a massive budget.
Education and Healthcare Initiatives
While the BJP and Shiv Sena are yet to announce their manifesto, the rest of the political representatives discussed the key issues of their manifestos. AAP promised one thousand world-class schools, citing its Delhi model where the public schools outperformed private schools. It also highlighted its objective of opening Mohalla Clinics, alleging that Mumbai saw only a fraction of ‘Aapla Dawakhanas’ becoming functional. It also promised 10,000 electric buses to be added to the BEST fleet to revive the public transportation system.
Delhi Model Promises
“What we are offering is what we have done in Delhi and doing in Punjab with regards to world class and free education, world-class and free healthcare, world-class and free water and electricity, 20,000 litres per family, 200 units per family per month. We've done it in Delhi and Punjab. We've done it without corruption, without debt. And that is the same thing that we are offering to all of you,” said Mascarenhas.
Congress Focuses on Pollution
Hargun Singh, the national secretary of the Indian Youth Congress, claimed that the Congress was the first to pick up the issue of air pollution, making it the centre of attraction for the BMC polls. He alleged that Mumbai's youth is facing multiple problems with reference to public transport and heavy traffic congestion. He added that the state government has taken up mega-sized projects but faces challenges due to bad planning and corruption in the system.
Health and Infrastructure Plans
Through its manifesto, the Congress plans to revive the Andheri-based Seven Hills hospital and construction of two new BMC hospitals. It also plans to introduce universal health care cards ensuring 100% free essential medicines, setting up more AQI monitoring centres and increasing the water supply, along with 20% free water.
Youth Issues Ignored
“All the parties, sadly, are not fighting in the election on youth issues, healthcare issues, GenZ issues, sanitisation issues but the bigger parties are still fighting amongst the cast issues, and Hindu-Muslim issues. I feel that has to go away and the youth has to come in the center,” said Singh.
BJP Prepares Manifesto
Although the BJP is yet to release its manifesto, Kapre said that the party is analysing 2.65 lakh responses received from Mumbaikars. He highlighted the constitution of the Indian National Institute of Creative Technologies for content creators as well as the focus on artificial intelligence to quicken the process of governance for the youth in the BMC, along with a focus on enhancing the last mile connectivity.
Environmental Concerns Raised
The opposition party members took a dig at the ruling alliance for cutting down 45,000 mangroves to make way for the second phase of the Coastal Road. Mascarenhas called the Coastal Road as the most expensive and “most wasteful road” of the city, calling for a need to shift to mass transit, highlighting that around 10 fish species have gone extinct from the seas near Mumbai.
Mangrove Preservation Promises
While the Shiv Sena accused the ruling coalition of cutting trees in Aarey and other environmental impacts, it committed that if they come to power, they will not allow the axing of 45,000 mangroves. Similarly, the Congress also announced that it will stop all the works related to mangrove deforestation and said that the replantation of mangroves in Chandrapur will not help the ecosystem loss caused to Mumbai.
BJP Defends Development Approach
The BJP, on the other hand, justified the act by calling it a balanced approach. “When there is development we have ensured that the development is with the conservation of natural resources. So never has it happened under our rule that we have destroyed natural resources and created development. I feel that this development should happen but it should also be taken care of the natural resources. So the CM and the DCM have already said that we'll take care of these issues and we'll ensure that Mumbai's AQI level and the pollution level plus the natural resources are maintained,” said Karpe.
Potholes and Road Repairs
Hargun Singh raised the concern that even after spending over Rs10,000 crores in the last three years on roads and repairs, the city still awaits a solution to potholes. Replying to the question, Shaina said, “We need to take some decisions which may not be the best that the ones you would have wanted to but in the larger interest if you look at the holistic redevelopment and the infrastructure of Mumbai today we are the fourth largest economy in the universe it's a matter of pride that Mumbai has contributed to this.”
Pledge for Environment
At the FPJ Town Hall, all the representatives took a pledge to save the environment on behalf of their political parties.
Communal Politics Criticised
Raising concerns over the Mumbai BJP president Amit Satam's statement claiming that the party will not allow any Khan to become a mayor, Gawande said that it was an embarrassing statement from a political party. He recalled Mumbai's long history of electing mayors from multiple faiths, from Yusuf Meher Ali to Simon Fernndez.
Youth Take Centre Stage
“It is embarrassing to see the ruling coalition think that being Marathi does not mean being a Mumbaikar. I think it's unfortunate more than ever before today that our city has witnessed this politics. It's only been an election that has been fought on a communal rhetoric that threatens to take away our very social fabric,” he said. The youth took the centre stage in the discussion as the young minds, many of them who were supposed to cast the first vote of their lives, as they raised various concerns regarding the civic issues of the city. The youth raised their voices for a wide range of issues, from the pothole-laden roads to the underequipped government hospitals.
Accessibility and Inclusion Issues
Sanjali (20), a lawyer, raised concerns about how the parties are planning to make the city accessible. NCP (SP) admitted that it did not include special plans for the LGBTQ+ community in its manifesto but assured that it will implement all the plans included in the party's manifesto for the Vidhan Sabha elections. AAP said that it has included a chapter in their manifesto specially for the LGBTQ+ community, whereas the Congress said that it has promised 5% funds for the SC and ST communities.
Youth Internships and Skill Development
Replying to Sanskriti's concern of the internship schemes for the youth, Karpe said that the BJP's plan to hire 50-member GenZ team as interns will help them learn about policy making. On the other hand, the AAP said that it plans to change the skill development culture from an early age, adding that Mumbai needs to empower its entrepreneurs.
Commercial Hours and Drug Menace
Sion-based Payal Shah raised concerns about allowing commercial establishments to function round the clock in Mumbai and the government's plan to curb the issue of substance abuse. Hargun Singh also added to it and accused the BJP-Sena government of failing to curb the drug menace in the city under their rule. Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Chitre also took a dig at the state government, accusing the BJP of copying the idea after creating a furore when it was originally rolled out by Aaditya Thackeray.
Flooding and Planning Gaps
Another young Mumbaikar raised concerns about the Andheri subway which floods during every monsoon and the inadequate maintenance of the Mogra Nullah, adding that the resurfacing of the issue points to critical gaps in coordination and planning. Singh also added to the concern and added that the civic body has failed to take significant corrective measures even after raising the issues multiple times.
Hospital Supply Shortages
A resident-doctor at a city-based public hospital, highlighted that stock supplies of medicines and medical equipment have gone down in the government-run hospitals. She also highlighted that none of the insurance schemes were functioning for four months and also objected to the privatisation of the hospitals. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) assured that it will restart all the services being provided to the citizens when they were in power three years ago, NCP (SP) said that they will overturn all the measures to convert the public hospitals into public-private partnership.
Public Transport and Alliances
While one young member from the audience demanded more buses running on the coastal road, another raised an honest concern whether the BJP and the Shiv Sena (UBT) will enter a post-poll alliance.
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