Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 15 : Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BJP) elections, BJP leader Poonam Mahajan took a swipe at the Thackeray cousins, alleging that MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray have come together solely for political survival, rather than the city's development.
The BJP leader also addressed concerns over an alleged threat to the Marathi identity in the wake of Raj Thackeray's statement, which made a strong pitch for Marathi unity and warned that the state's language, land, and identity are under threat.
Reacting to these developments, Mahajan accused opposition parties of playing a game of divide and rule. She highlighted that it was under PM Modi that Marathi was finally granted the status of a classical language.
"It is good if a family comes together, but they have not come together for a wedding. They have come together for their survival. They have not come together over development issues...They raise issues which are beyond understanding...They raise the issue of 'Marathi manus'. Who gave it the status of Classical Language? PM Narendra Modi...Where did the 'Marathi manus' of Lalbaug and Girgaon go? You removed them...Everyone is doing divide and rule. We don't want to get into that. We want to do development. Maharashtra will be the most important in India's stride ahead..." Mahajan told ANI.
She further asserted that the Mahayuti alliance would contest the BMC elections on development issues and accused opposition parties of diverting attention from the city's development toward Hindutva and Marathi identity politics.
"...BJP, Shiv Sena and Mahayuti do not want to divert their focus. When the Opposition wants to divert our attention, we say that only someone who thinks for Marathi and Hindutva would be our Mayor. To those who want to have a 'burqa waali' (as Mayor), as said by those coming from Hyderabad as well as the local leaders here, I would like to say - have one such Corporator in your village first. They might feel good to indulge in Hindu-Muslim but the people of Maharashtra and the country are clever. They are intelligent. They want development...We do not want to get diverted. We will contest on the issues of development and make our cities better," said Mahajan.
Mahajan also declared that she clearly sees a 'winning wave' in favour of the Mahayuti alliance. She emphasised that the public is eager to support them and reaffirmed the alliance's commitment to working responsibly for the people of Mumbai.
"Civic body elections are taking place across 29 places in Maharashtra. We have made separate development models for every city...We are getting good support across Maharashtra. As far as BMC and 9 municipal corporation in Mumbai Metropolitan Region are concerned, CM Fadnavis had made masterplan from 2014-2019 that the more we develop MMR, the better it will be for the development of Maharashtra as well as country. You must have seen in past few years that be it metro, connectivity, infrastructure projects, houses of people and water supply to every house, every tiny thing which was not done by the earlier ruling parties in civic bodies is something we have taken care of. This is not just on paper but it can be seen as ground reality. So, I can see winning prospect of Mahayuti. People want to support us and we also want to work responsibly for people," added Mahajan.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra is gearing up for massive civic polls across 29 municipal corporations, including the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The stakes are high for the Thackeray brothers, as well as the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, following the ruling Mahayuti's resounding victory in last year's assembly elections.
The voting for these corporations will be held on January 15, and the votes will be counted on January 16.
In the capital city, Mumbai, voting will take place in 227 wards, with approximately 1,700 candidates in the fray.
A total of 1,03,44,315 citizens are eligible to vote in the BMC polls. Of these, 55,16,707 are male voters, 48,26,509 are female voters, and the number of other voters is 1,099.
The undivided Shiv Sena was a strong force in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It won 84 seats contesting in alliance with the BJP, which won 82 seats. However, the tables have turned this time following Shiv Sena's split in 2022. For the Thackeray brothers, Raj and Uddhav, these local body polls are a fight for regaining lost prestige. It will also test if the Thackeray surname still carries as much weight as it once did in the city and the state.