BMC Elections: BJP wants separate manifesto for Civic polls

By Varun Singh – Mid-Day

Promises made ahead of polls by politicians are rarely kept, but the BJP feels it’s important the people know who’s making them. So, its coalition with the Shiv Sena and RPI (A) notwithstanding, the BJP, for the first time, is all set to release a separate manifesto for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. According to party insiders, a joint manifesto often ends up appearing as the mouthpiece of one party while the voice of others in the alliance is lost.

“We have formed a team comprising 12 people, who are currently developing the manifesto. It will highlight all the work done by us in the last five years. We will focus on important points covered from our previous manifesto and will ensure that our achievements are also noticed by the people,” said a BJP insider.

Teamwork

The party has even formed a 12-member team that’s working on the manifesto and their final meeting would be on January 10, where the layout and other details would be discussed.  The committee is being headed by ex-MLA Hemendra Mehta and consists of senior members like Ashish Shelar, Bhalchandra Shirsat, Shailaja Girkar, Atul Bhatkalkar and a few others.

When quizzed, Vivekanand Gupta, secretary, Mumbai BJP, said, “The party is coming out with a vision document for the city of Mumbai — how the city should be and how the party is going to function. We will also have a joint manifesto, but right now there are people in the party who do want a separate one to be there.”

BJP has 28 corporators heading important committees like improvement, tree, education and women & child welfare. For the last five years even the deputy mayor in the BMC has been from the party. Now, BJP is keen on highlighting all these posts and portfolios held by its members and the work done. The party is even planning to get the opinion of the youth on what kind of development and enterprises they want to see happening in the city.

Guarded response

The allies are, naturally, wary. “We will soon have a meeting, where Uddhav Thackeray, Gopinath Munde, Sudhir Mungantiwar and I will be present. Our main motive would be to have a single manifesto for the alliance.  If there are different manifestos, it would lead to confusion amongst the public as the development agenda has to be the same. I am for one manifesto for the whole coalition,” said RPI(A) chief Ramdas Athawale.

“There should only be one manifesto in an alliance. However, what Uddhavji decides would be final,” said Shiv Sena MLA Abhijit Adsul.

 

Source: Mid-Day

BMC Elections 2012: Civic polls to test Uddhav’s leadership

 

Makarand Gadgil, makarand.g@livemint.com

 

The forthcoming municipal elections in Mumbai, the country’s commercial capital, and nine other cities in Maharashtra hold the key to the fortunes of Shiv Sena​ executive president Uddhav Thackeray, under whose leadership the party lost two consecutive assembly elections—in 2004 and 2009.

The Sena, in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party​ (BJP), has controlled the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) since 1985 except during 1991-94.

Control of MCGM is critical since it has a budget of Rs.20,417 crore, much more than that of several smaller states such as Goa, Mizoram and Manipur. Though a little over 50% of the municipal body’s funds are consumed by salaries and other administrative expenses, the ruling combine still controls funds that run into thousands of crores for “developmental work”. Losing control of this can cost Thackeray dearly, according to political observers, who say that a failure to get elected could push many Sena members into shifting their loyalties to estranged and more aggressive cousin Raj Thackeray​’s Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS).

After the last assembly elections in 2009, the Sena was relegated to the fourth position and won fewer seats than its alliance partner BJP. That meant it had to concede the position of leader of the opposition in the state assembly to the BJP. In Mumbai, while the Sena won four assembly segments, the MNS secured six. The MNS won 13 seats in the assembly elections and is estimated to have spoiled the chances of Sena-BJP candidates in at least 35-40 seats.

Much depends on whether the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party​ (NCP), coalition partners at the central and state level, manage to strike an alliance for the local polls. In 2007, both parties contested civic polls separately, helping the Sena-BJP combine win 110 seats in a House of 227. This will also mark the first major electoral test for Prithviraj Chavan, since becoming chief minister in November, 2010. He’s keen to consolidate his position by wresting MCGM from the Sena, as is his deputy Ajit Pawar​, who now virtually controls the NCP in the state.

To counter the splitting of the vote of the “Marathi Manoos” (native of Maharashtra) with the MNS, the Shiv Sena has roped in a third partner—the Ramdas Athavale faction of the Republican Party of India​ (RPI), which represents the neo-Buddhist section of Maharashtra’s Dalit population. Dalits form 18.5% of Maharashtra’s population. Of this, 7.5% are neo-Buddhists.

If the Congress and the NCP form an alliance, the Sena will find it difficult to retain control over MCGM as the party is not only facing anti-incumbency but also a division of its core constituency, said columnist and political commentator Pratap Asbe.

If the Shiv Sena loses control over MCGM, a large section of the party’s cadre and lower-rung functionaries will switch loyalties to MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Asbe said.

Noted Dalit thinker and writer Gangadhar Pantavane said the “Dalit population has historically eyed Hindu supremacist forces with suspicion. Just because Athavale has joined hands with these forces, his followers won’t necessarily vote for the Sena-BJP.”

Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP and spokesman Sanjay Raut dismissed the prospect of defeat. “Because of our track record on the developmental front, we are sure we will manage to secure a simple majority with help from our allies.”

Source: Live Mint