All eyes on ‘party with a difference’

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde felicitate Mayor Ritu Tawde at the BMC headquarters on February 11. Also seen is Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi (extreme right). PIC/SAYYED SAMEER ABEDI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long described itself as a "party with a difference." That claim will be put to the test in Mumbai, which does not want more slogans. It wants everyday civic life to improve, better roads, safer footpaths, cleaner streets, and a government that actually works.

For the past few years, the BJP has blamed the Shiv Sena, which had control over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for decades, for the city's civic decline. It spoke loudly about potholes, broken pavements, garbage piles, flooding every monsoon, traffic chaos, and the daily frustration of ordinary citizens. The message was simple: Mumbai deserved better, and the BJP would deliver better.

Last week, the BJP secured the mayor's chair in India's richest civic body. The time for criticism is over.

The BJP also cannot claim that it does not know what Mumbai wants. In the run-up to the civic polls, the party launched a public outreach campaign to collect citizens' feedback for its manifesto. It says it received responses from nearly 2.65 lakh people. More than half of those surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with civic services, and the biggest concerns were basic ones: encroached footpaths, hawkers, illegal parking, roads, potholes, garbage collection, water supply, flooding, healthcare, and housing.

The manifesto is not just an election document. It is a promise, and the party will be judged by whether it delivers on what citizens themselves said they need most.

The BJP is in power not only at the BMC, but also in the state and at the Centre. When one party controls all three levels, excuses lose meaning. Only results matter. The time for delivery has begun. And citizens have already waited long enough.

Since 2022, after the elected BMC term ended, Mumbai has been run by administrators under the state's watch. Yet for most people, little changed on the ground. Roads remained broken, footpaths stayed encroached, and civic problems continued as usual. So the question is unavoidable: will anything finally improve now that Mumbai again has an elected civic body?

Because the real Mumbai story is not about who occupies the mayor's office. It is about whether a senior citizen can walk safely without tripping over broken pavements or open manholes. Such is the state of things that a former BMC commissioner once admitted the pavements were in such poor condition and so badly encroached, that he could not even take his own mother out for a walk. That one remark says more than any political speech ever could. People are exhausted by temporary fixes and by public money being spent year after year on the same issues.

According to reports, the BMC has spent more than Rs 21,000 crore over the last two decades on road repairs and maintenance. Yet Mumbai's roads continue to crumble. The 2015 road scam only deepened public suspicion about where the money goes.

The BMC's budget is nearly Rs 74,000 crore, larger than that of several smaller states. With this kind of money, citizens have every right to demand world-class civic services.

Power in the BMC is a responsibility. The BJP has an opportunity, not just to rule Mumbai, but to improve it. If it delivers on the basics, it can earn genuine trust. If it slips into the same blame games and slow action, it will lose the very argument it built for years. The stakes are higher because this election was closely linked to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's leadership. He asked voters to trust him for the next five years.

It is also worth noting that Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde attended the mayor and deputy mayor's election and the setting up of the new leadership in the BMC. Many civic officials say it is rare for a chief minister or his deputy to be present at such events, which are usually handled by local leaders. The CM's presence showed how closely the BJP's push for power in Mumbai's civic body was guided from the very top.

Now, if the BJP fails to keep its promises, citizens will be left with little choice but to sigh and say, "Arre Deva," (a familiar Marathi cry of frustration), because "Deva Bhau" cannot remain only a nickname. Mumbai needs real work, not just words.

Sanjeev Shivadekar is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @SanjeevShivadek
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