BMC polls will decide Uddhav's future, return power to citizens

The forthcoming BMC polls are set to be one of the most significant civic elections for both political parties and Mumbai citizens who have not had a voice in three years.

- Saurabha Kulshreshtha

MUMBAI:

On the political front, the elections will be a battle of survival for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and its chief Uddhav Thackeray, and a matter of prestige for deputy CM Eknath Shinde and CM Devendra Fadnavis who want to end the Thackeray era in Mumbai. On the civic front, they will bring back the checks and balances in the governance of the country's richest civic body with a budget over ₹74,000 crore.

The five-year term of the BMC's elected body ended on March 7, 2022. For the last three years, the civic body has been under the rule of government-appointed administrators. Back then, in a House of 227, the undivided Shiv Sena had 97 corporators, the BJP had 83, the Congress 29, the NCP eight, the Samajwadi Party (SP) six, the AIMIM two and the MNS one.

This time around, Thackeray will face a big challenge, as over 40 corporators have left him to join Shinde's Shiv Sena.