Mahayuti leaders slam ‘emotional appeal’, say people have witnessed change, development in past 11 yrs; Raj
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. FILE PIC/RANE ASHISH
It is clear that this year’s BMC election will be a contest of progress versus Marathi identity. While the Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, are likely to bank on Marathi identity, the BJP is gearing up to showcase its development work over the past years, aiming to appeal to voters who prioritise growth and infrastructure over emotive identity politics.
The linguistic identity versus development work has become the latest reason for the war of words between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and the BJP. On Sunday, during a function in Mumbai, Raj made an emotional appeal. According to reports, Thackeray spoke about ‘Marathi identity’, suggesting that this could be the last election for the community to assert it. “Marathi people should stay alert or else this Mumbai municipal election could be the last for them,” Raj asserted while addressing the gathering.
Reacting to this, BJP Mumbai president Ameet Satam claimed that the people of Mumbai, including Marathi speakers, were happy with the BJP government. “In the last 11 years of the BJP rule, people have witnessed change and development. Voters are happy with development,” Satam said. For nearly 25 years, the Shiv Sena (undivided) and the BJP ruled the BMC, but their alliance ended in 2017. That year, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, BJP 82, MNS seven (six later joined Uddhav Thackeray’s group), Congress (29), NCP (nine), and others (15). In 2022, Eknath Shinde, now one of Maharashtra’s deputy chief ministers, split the Shiv Sena and became chief minister, and most of Uddhav’s corporators subsequently joined Shinde’s faction.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule, BJP Maharashtra president
Now, BJP and Shinde are vying for control of Asia’s richest civic body. The BJP is harping on Metro, bridges, tunnels, and expressways to achieve its long-term goal of gaining control over BMC. On the other hand, the weakened Shiv Sena (UBT) is taking every possible measure to retain control over the BMC. Similarly, Raj’s party, which sees a chance to revive its political relevance, has buried differences with the Uddhav camp and is likely to ink an alliance based on the common issue of Marathi and Maharashtra pride.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule, senior BJP leader and revenue minister in the Mahayuti government, said, “There is no such thing as a ‘last election’. This [Raj’s statement] is nothing but an attempt to evoke emotions among members of the Marathi community.”
Opposition’s letter
The heads of both Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS have written a letter to the State Election Commission (SEC) demanding 21 days to raise objections to published electoral rolls, instead of the existing eight days, or to cancel the scheduled civic elections. “The time given to find errors and raise objections is very less. One needs at least 21 days for this process. Or else, elections to local bodies should be cancelled,” the letter signed by the Thackeray cousins states.
According to reports, there are nearly 11 lakh duplicate names and addresses in the published voters’ list. Elections to the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations are scheduled to be held before January 31, 2026, as per the deadline set by the Supreme Court for Maharashtra to complete all local body polls.
Today, apex court will be hearing a petition alleging that Maharashtra has exceeded the 50 per cent quota while reserving seats in local bodies. Earlier, on November 17, while hearing the case, the bench concerned warned that it could stay the local body election over exceeding the reservation quota.
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