BMC polls will see face-off between Shiv Sena and BJP

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 20

Tuesday’s election to India’s richest civic body — the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation — and nine other civic bodies in the state is seen as a referendum on the two-and-a-half year old Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP, which jointly rule the state, will take on each other in what is billed as the mini-assembly elections in the state.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has already indicated that he will reconsider his support to the Fadnavis government after results of the elections are declared on February 23.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP were ruling India’s financial capital for the last 25 years before they went solo this time contesting all the 227 seats in the city.

The acrimonious campaign has seen leaders of the two parties trade barbs at each other with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray calling Fadnavis a liar on
election-eve.

On its part, the BJP has indicated that it would split with the Shiv Sena if required in order to stay in power in Maharashtra for the rest of the five-year term.

It is still not clear whether any party will gain a majority in the 227-member house. The Shiv Sena and the BJP had won 75 and 31 seats respectively in the 2012 elections.

The high-voltage campaign by both the parties has overshadowed the efforts of the Congress and smaller parties who lack the funds of the two saffron parties.

This election has seen the Shiv Sena woo voters from the Gujarati and Marwari communities, seen as the traditional bastions of the BJP.

On its part, the BJP has fielded several Marathi-speaking candidates in order to cut into its ally’s vote-share.

As per the data available from the state election commission, north Indian voters account for 32 per cent of the population while the Marathi-speaking voters are 30 per cent.

Gujaratis and Muslims account for 12 and ten per cent of the city’s residents and live in pockets
across the city.

The fortunes of the major parties will be decided by voters who traditionally treat polling day as another holiday. Turnout during civic polls in Mumbai varies between 42 and 44 per cent.