The main contenders in the BMC polls, it would seem, are preparing to take the battle to the rest of the field using the issue of development as a weapon.
“This election will be mainly about the development of the city, and then the other issues will matter,” said chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Thus, the main thrust of the manifestos of both the Congress-NCP and the Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI (A) is their plans for the city, particularly its infrastructure.
Moreover, the Congress-NCP is going to town about how the Sena-BJP combine has failed to govern the city properly. “I am criticising the government that runs the BMC, which happens to be the Sena and the BJP. If it had been another party, I’d have criticised that party,” he said.
Thus, in Pune, where the Congress faces its ally — the NCP — Chavan has urged people to vote for his party, saying the Congress would definitely bring in funds to develop the city, one of India’s faster growing cities today.
Similarly, NCP chief Sharad Pawar also sought votes for his party, saying his party would “change the face” of Pune, if re-elected.
Sena MLA and former BMC standing committee chairman Ravindra Waikar agreed that the Sena-BJP-RPI alliance would also fight the polls on the basis of development, albeit with a twist. Their key aim is to showcase the poor development of Maharashtra, ruled by the Congress-NCP, versus the far better development of Mumbai.
“The Congress-NCP talks of improving Mumbai when they have managed to do so little for Maharashtra — why will the people believe them?” he said.
Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray claimed CM Chavan and the Congress have merely made promises that they could not fulfil. “He has asked what we did in the past five years. Let me ask how many files he cleared in the last one year.” he said.
Using the theme of development is ostensibly far better than the usual insidious harping on religion, language and caste. It even provides a level-playing field to various citizen candidates. Sources close to the CM said he was keen to raise the campaigning bar by not speaking on divisive issues such as language or religion.
For now, the Sena-BJP-RPI and Congress-NCP are busy exchanging barbs vis-a-vis their respective failures on the development front.
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