- The election of any hue garners tremendous interest and traction in India is stating the obvious. Especially, the parliamentary and state assembly elections by virtue of carrying great importance vis-à-vis the country’s growth trajectory succeed in gaining the attention of citizens from various walks of life. Apart from this, certain local polls also generate interest amongst the citizens like the municipal body elections. If it is for the metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai, the undercurrents, and the subsequent repercussions for the country’s political landscape from the results here would carry a different dimension altogether.
PC: S.Y. Quraishi
- Even though municipal body elections are supposed to largely stay apolitical but we all know how important these are for the parties concerned to establish. As mentioned above, Delhi and Mumbai are India’s two big metros well poised for local elections in the coming days. And the political stakes have never been bigger for the parties attempting to establish credentials in the eyes of the electorate. In 2017, BJP and AAP campaigned for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi projecting their respective supremos, PM Modi and CM Kejriwal, respectively. Delhi voters preferred BJP, two years after AAP’s sweeping assembly poll victory.
- Now, a far more acrimonious battle looms, amid relations between the Delhi L-G and AAP government nosediving into an abyss. Delhi votes in the shadow of AAP’s growing national ambitions too, now reaching the faraway shores of Gujarat. Gratuitously, BJP has a big opportunity to seize Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, for long under the Thackerays. The 2017 BMC polls were an existential fight for Shiv Sena, with BJP as its opponent, and Sena barely scraped through. Cut to 2022, Sena is at its weakest after breaking into two factions, giving BJP its best shot to control the country’s financial nerve centre.
PC: BMC Elections
- The moot point to ponder over here is whether municipal governance gets due importance amid politics around these civic elections. Sadly, the answer will be no. Yes, the polls will throw up victors, but as the recurrent Bengaluru flooding and the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat show, municipal governance is losing out. This is the bane of the country that largely goes unnoticed. Note that Indian cities have developed in a disorderly fashion and the crumbling infrastructure endangers the lives, limbs, and assets of citizens. City governments require adequate powers and financial resources to build capacity for safety audits and planning as well as executing projects.
- Unfortunately, most urban bodies are behind the curve in updating property taxes, depriving themselves of the most potent revenue source. State government control of municipal bodies has spawned a multiplicity of authorities, which dents accountability and disrupts the chain of command. Where are the reforms then allowing cities to deliver prosperity for citizens and economic growth for the country? Unless urban civic bodies are not empowered, they are bound to underperform. Freeing the urban bodies from the clutches of politics would be a game-changer. Will the power-hungry political fraternity allow this to fructify? No harm in being hopeful.
