The
campaign of local body elections has entered its final phase. The results of
the municipal council and nagar panchayat elections will also be announced on
Wednesday, December 3. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Bharatiya Janata
Party state president Ravindra Chavan, as well as other BJP ministers and
office bearers, are campaigning across the state for these elections. In this
frenzy of campaigning, senior leaders Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Raj
Thackeray, Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal, Nana Patole, Vijay
Waddetiwar were completely absent. Mr. Raj Thackeray, who wants to join the
Maha Vikas Aghadi fold, was also not seen holding campaign meetings. This
absence of the top leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the campaign shows the helpless
state of the opposition in the state.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was
addressing at least four-five public meetings a day. The whirlwind campaign
tour of Mr. Fadnavis was well received by the voters. The campaign rallies of
Bharatiya Janata Party state president Ravindra Chavan also received a good
response from the public. In his campaign speeches, instead of criticising the
opposition, Chief Minister Fadnavis emphasised the development works in the
state and the future development plans of those respective cities. Chief
Minister Fadnavis gave detailed information about the development projects
undertaken by the state government with the help of the Narendra Modi-led
government at the Center in his campaign rallies. Keeping a list of the works
done and the works to be done in the future before the public, Chief Minister
Fadnavis, BJP state president Ravindra Chavan, BJP ministers in the state
government, and party office bearers sought the voters’ mandate on the matter
of development. Instead of criticizing the opposition in a scathing manner, the
Bharatiya Janata Party leadership fought this election on the basis of positive
issues. The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership tried to explain to the voters
through this election that if one wants to develop one’s city, then the reins
of the municipal council and the nagar panchayat should be given to the same
party which is in power at the Centre and in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership
also presented the voters with an account of its government’s work, by
presenting statistics on what the state government had done for the development
of that city and how much funding was provided for development projects in that
city through the central government. It is the duty of the ruling party to
inform the voters about the work of the central and state governments. The
ruling party should also tell the voters how the promises made to the voters
before coming to power have been fulfilled. Recognising that this is a good
opportunity to place before the voters one’s work report and progress book, the
Bharatiya Janata Party leadership avoided criticising the opposition in all the
campaign meetings.
Exactly 1 year ago, in the assembly
elections, voters gave an overwhelming majority to the Mahayuti, sweeping away
the Mahavikas Aghadi. UBT, senior leaders Sharad Pawar, Raj Thackeray and all
the leaders of the Congress have still not recovered from the shock of this
defeat. On this occasion, it has once again come before the world that the UBT
faction and Uddhav Thackeray are not interested in any other local body
elections except the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. Maharashtra has
never seen such helpless opponents before.
In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, the
Bharatiya Janata Party could not win a single seat in Maharashtra. Still, the
party leadership was not discouraged. In each subsequent election, the
leadership and workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party entered the field with
determination. Therefore, after 1984, within just 11 years, the Bharatiya
Janata Party, along with the Shiv Sena, formed the government in the state.
Senior leader Sharad Pawar, too, from 1980 to December 1986, while being in the
opposition, travelled across the entire state many times to build his party,
the Samajwadi Congress.
The leaders of Congress in the state had
never been accustomed to sincerely playing the role of the opposition. Just as
the saying goes, ‘If the Lord wishes, He will provide me everything even on my
bed’, the leaders of Congress in the state have developed the habit of
believing that a leader of the Gandhi family in Delhi will give them power, and
they just have to enjoy that power. Therefore, no one expected that the
Congress leadership in the state would make any significant effort in the
municipal council and nagar panchayat elections. In the last assembly election,
the UBT faction won 20 seats. In the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the UBT group received
the highest number of seats. Therefore, as the main opposition party in the
state, Uddhav Thackeray repeatedly demands that the post of Leader of the
Opposition in the assembly should go to his party. However, the UBT group has
not fulfilled its duty to participate in the municipal election campaign to
show that it is committed to the voters as the main opposition party. At
present, Uddhav Thackeray is only focused on the Mumbai Municipal Corporation,
as if it is the parrot’s eye. To keep the Mumbai Municipal Corporation under
his control, he has bowed down before Raj Thackeray. The brother whom Uddhav
Thackeray did not acknowledge for the last 18 years, that same brother has now
become dearer than life to him.
An extremely contrasting picture is seen
during this election where on one side, the ruling party is extremely active in
reaching out to the voters, and on the other side, the opposition is completely
dispirited and in a state of confusion. On this occasion, one can only wish
that may our state at least get a capable opposition party in the future.
(Article
Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 01 December,
2025)
Keshav
Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson
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