Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena and the BJP have seized the battleground of Mumbai. From poster wars to aggressive rallies, the two parties have been targeting each other prominently. The agenda points of criticism against BJP have mainly been national and state-oriented issues for Shiv Sena. It has taken up a “Did you know?” campaign, highlighting the work BMC has done in Mumbai in two decades. Whereas the BJP has primarily targeted the Shiv Sena for alleged “corruption” and “lack of transparency in BMC functioning”. The Shiv Sena and BJP alliance has ruled BMC continuously for over 20 years.
During these elections, while the NCP has been able to field candidates in only 174 of the 227 seats, the Congress has fielded candidates in all the wards. But the infighting within Congress and the disgruntled state leadership has dented its pre-poll campaigning in Mumbai. In a recent press conference in the city, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam was seen sharing the dais with the national leadership. But none of the prominent state leaders, including Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, Gurudas Kamat, were seen on-stage.
In the face of abandonment by prominent state leaders, Congress campaigning has not picked up much speed. Former Chief Minister Narayan Rane had to be coaxed to campaign for seeking Marathi votes in Mumbai. Sanjay Nirupam, Mumbai Congress president, has an appeal among the North Indian voter base of Congress. But Nirupam’s style of functioning has miffed other strong Congress leaders in Mumbai. The most distraught leader among them has been Rajiv Gandhi loyalist Gurudas Kamat. In fact, senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat sent a message to his followers and the media a few days ago, announcing his complete withdrawal from the election process.
“All applicants for municipal corporation tickets are requested to contact their local MLA candidates and district Congress president to get the party nomination as I have withdrawn from the entire exercise of selection of candidates and campaign due to the negative attitude of Sanjay Nirupam, Mumbai Congress president,” he said in his message, mincing no words against his arch-rival Nirupam. Only recently has the central Congress leadership’s interference helped. After Delhi sent former Haryana Chief Minister and senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kamat finally relented to hold a few rallies. But it is already too late now. Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia have held rallies in the city.
On its part, the NCP has been dented due to the continuous trickle out of party members. Anyway, the party was not known to be strong in Mumbai. To top it, many of its local leaders have jumped to BJP or Shiv Sena in search of greener pastures. NCP leaders have tried to downplay the trickle out. “All those who have stayed back with us are the real party workers. The ones who have jumped out, were never dedicated towards the party,” said Clyde Crasto, Maharashtra NCP spokesperson. He said that NCP was the only party to have fielded over 50% women candidates in the Mumbai municipal polls. “Apart from the 79 wards reserved for women, we have given tickets to women in general open wards, general OBC wards and general SC/ST wards,” he said. Of the 174 candidates fielded by NCP, 96 are women candidates.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar said recently that the Mumbai municipal election will be a fight between the Shiv Sena and the BJP and that the Sena will most likely lead in this battle. The Sena has positioned itself as a party which works relentlessly for the ordinary Mumbaikars. It has targeted the state and the central BJP leadership on various issues including farmers’ woes and demonetisation. It has barely touched on any local issues for the election campaigning. Uddhav Thackeray, the star campaigner for the party, has held whirlwind rallies across the city. On the other hand, the BJP has projected Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as its star campaigner. Though a few Union ministers have come to the state to hold rallies, the major responsibility of campaigning for the party has been handled by Fadnavis. He has been holding rallies across the state, criticising the Shiv Sena for its “shoddy, corrupt and non-transparent ways of functioning” in the Mumbai municipal corporation. Both Shiv Sena and BJP have ruled over BMC for 20 years. The Sena has maintained that the BJP is also criticising its own work while targeting the Sena.
While the BJP has undertaken aggressive campaigning across the city, the Sena, on its part, has gone out of its way to increase its appeal among the Gujarati population in the city.
While AIMIM is likely to hold a formidable challenge to Congress for the traditional Muslim population, the RPI will pose a challenge when it comes to Dalit votes. The BJP has entered into an alliance with RPI in the city polls.