Mumbai set for high-stakes battle as campaigning for 29 civic body elections ends

Campaigning for the January 15 elections to 29 municipal corporations crossed Maharashtra came to a boisterous extremity connected Tuesday, with candidates from assorted governmental parties arsenic good arsenic the autarkic contenders carrying retired roadshows and door-to-door meetings.

A batch is astatine involvement successful the polls to the 5 most-coveted civic bodies – Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Thane, Nagpur, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, and Nashik Municipal Corporation.

Of the five, the BMC, which is Asia’s richest civic body, is the astir prestigious one, wherever the Baharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti is making a beardown transportation to offset the situation from the once-estranged Thackeray cousins – Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Raj Thackeray – who joined hands aft 20 years.

They are banking connected the consolidation of Marathi manoos to decision the BJP, which is banking connected a run weaved astir the majoritarian docket and improvement work. The run-up to the predetermination saw the BJP alleging that Mumbai “will person a Muslim politician if the Sena (UBT) is voted to power”.

Rivals articulation hands

While the rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party besides joined hands for Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Parbhani polls, the Congress enactment stepped retired of the shadiness of its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies — Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) — successful Mumbai and has aligned with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh successful the capital, portion opting to spell solo successful Nagpur.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took retired a motorcycle rally successful Nagpur. Mr. Uddhav visited respective shakas (party offices successful wards) and raised concerns astir the organisation of money. He urged enactment workers and the nationalist not to autumn for it. Campaigning successful Mumbai’s Dahisar, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “The candidates having the enactment of women volition sensation triumph successful the polls.” He was referring to the effect to the Ladki Bahin scheme, which was rolled retired nether his tenure arsenic CM earlier the 2024 Assembly poll.

Meanwhile, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced that polls to 12 zila parishads (ZP) and 125 panchayat samitis successful the State volition beryllium held connected February 5, and counting of votes volition instrumentality spot connected February 7. The announcment came a time aft the Supreme Court extended the January 31 timeline for completing the canvass process for section bodies by 2 weeks. With that, the exemplary codification of behaviour has kicked in, it said.