Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mumbai on Thursday will, in all probability, witness the launch of the campaign for upcoming municipal corporation elections in Mumbai and the Thane region.
Although the election date has not been announced, the BMC and other municipal corporation elections are likely to take place in April - May this year. These elections are very important for the BJP and Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena as both of them are desperate to gain control of the BMC and Thane municipal corporation.
During his visit, Modi will launch various development projects and also inaugurate Metro lines 2A and 7 which travel the distance between Andheri and Dahisar in the western suburbs of Mumbai. The prime minister will also inaugurate 20 health clinics named after Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray. These clinics have been designed to provide services to people from poorer sections of society in Mumbai. Modi will also address a public meeting at Bandra Kurla complex ground after launching various development projects.
The control over BMC is very important for the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena. For years, Sena has benefited from the resources of the BMC. It's a cash cow for Uddhav Thackeray's party, and it can not afford to lose control over BMC.
BJP, on the other hand, has been desperate to control the reins of the BMC. Though both BJP and Shiv Sena were allies till the 2017 municipal corporation elections but contested separately in 2017 though they ruled the state together. Then the BJP won 82 of the 227 seats while a united Shiv Sena won 95.
The tough fight given by the BJP was a signal to Uddhav Thackeray that the BJP wanted to wrest control of Asia's richest civic corporation.
After the split in Shiv Sena in May 2022 when Eknath Shinde broke away from the party along with 40 other party legislators, the Shinde faction has formed an alliance with the BJP in the state and now they will contest the BMC election together against MVA led by Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena.
Saamna, the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena (UBT), has been publishing stories of how all the development works that Modi will be inaugurating today are the results of efforts taken by the party during its rule over BMC in the last five years. It's important to note here that Shiv Sena has been controlling the BMC since the 1990s.
Modi's visit to Mumbai is very important for the BJP. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis cancelled his Davos trip to take care of the arrangements for the Prime Minister's visit. Even Chief Minister Eknath Shinde returned early from Davos to oversee the arrangements. Both Shinde and Fadnavis presided over a series of meetings on Wednesday to go through the last-minute details of preparations for the Prime Minister's visit.
