The paradigm shift

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the inauguration ceremony of phase one of the Navi Mumbai International Airport in Ulwe on October 8. Pic/AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent speech in Navi Mumbai highlighted a strategy that mixes emotion with development, pride with performance, and governance with delivery. Modi made it clear that the BJP is focusing on results that impact everyday life, like the safety of citizens and better roads and civic services. This approach is in sharp contrast to the strategy of the Thackeray cousins, who continue to rely on the emotional Marathi Asmita card to appeal to local sentiment.

Modi's speeches often follow familiar patterns. The PM begins by touching people's emotions about national security and then shifts gears to talk about efficiency, development, transparency, and delivery. The choice of Navi Mumbai as the venue was not a coincidence. The city represents the new urban face and planned infrastructure, the rising middle-class, and expanding connectivity.

It was a message that the BJP aims to dominate the entire urban belt of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which influences the state's economy and politics.
The PM talking about the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, safety, pride, performance, and progress is a clear signal that the BJP is setting the tone for the upcoming BMC and other civic elections in the MMR areas of Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, and Kalyan Dombivli.

The BMC is not merely an institution; it is a political powerhouse that controls multi-crore contracts, real estate approvals and urban policies. Any party in control of Asia's richest civic body with a budget bigger than that of several small states matters a lot.

The BMC has been under Shiv Sena (undivided) for nearly 25 years. Winning Mumbai would not only give the BJP control over the country's financial capital's civic administration but also signal its dominance in Maharashtra's urban politics ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

By recalling the 26/11 attacks and Operation Sindoor, Modi drew a sharp contrast between the Congress and BJP governments.

The PM emphasised his administration's decisive approach to national security and slammed the Congress government for not responding strongly against Pakistan, even though the armed forces were ready to strike. Modi alleged that the UPA-led Congress government stopped the attack merely because of a call from a foreign country. Modi said this was not the case with the BJP government, which gave the army free rein to attack terror camps in Pakistan territories. The PM even made it clear that for his government, nothing matters more than the safety of its citizens.

From emotion, Modi smoothly shifted to development. He slammed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA, comprising Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena) for stalling key infrastructure projects in Maharashtra.

While taking a dig at the opponents, the PM ensured that he mentioned the achievements of the BJP-led government in Maharashtra, like new roads, Metro lines, bridges, and housing projects.

Mumbai's day-to-day problems are well-known, including issues like potholes, bad roads, flooding, overflowing drains, and traffic congestion.

While the BJP claims it can fix these problems, the frustration among Mumbai citizens runs deep. As promises remain on paper, corruption and blame games continue between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the state government. At this stage, Modi's narrative of performance and pride attempts to tap into this fatigue.

The BJP leadership's intention was clear while comparing two different governments. The idea was to position the BJP as the driver of urban development and efficient governance, against the failure and misrule of the earlier government, be it at the state or municipal corporation level.

If voters are convinced that the BJP can deliver better results, the party will rewrite the city's political equation for years to come.

Modi's speech, a blend of pride and performance, comes at a very crucial stage when the reunited Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, are playing the Marathi card and appealing to local sentiment ahead of the BMC polls, scheduled in the next few months.

To counter such politics, the BJP is trying to speak to a larger audience, whether Marathi, Gujarati or North Indian. But the BJP's tone, while speaking to voters about identity matters, is not limited to language. For the saffron party, besides linguistic identity and culture, the definition of a city's pride includes quality roads, availability of jobs, and the safety of citizens. This is evidence of what the BJP's narrative would be for the civic poll manifesto to win both the hearts and minds of people.

While the Thackeray cousins are banking on an emotional appeal and perception that locals are losing their dominance, the BJP is focusing on promising large-scale development and exposing the ‘misrule' of the Shiv Sena (UBT) in the civic body. By mixing emotion with performance and security with development, Modi has established the BJP's campaign mood.

Aware that the road to Maharashtra's future political dominance runs through lanes and wards of Mumbai, every political party is putting their shoulder to the wheel to gain control over the BMC. While Shiv Sena (UBT) wants to retain control, the BJP wants to achieve its long-term dream of having complete control over BMC.

The upcoming civic polls will test whether Mumbai's voters are swayed by cultural identity or by promises of better infrastructure and governance. The outcome will determine whether people from India's financial capital have inked their fingers for emotional politics or embraced a new narrative of delivery, discipline, and development.

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

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