Adani and money power dominate high-stakes BMC civic poll campaign in Mumbai

Campaigning for the elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), scheduled for 15 January, ended on Tuesday evening. Issues related to public problems were largely missing from the campaign, which instead remained centred on industrialist Gautam Adani and the alleged use of money power.

Adani was in the spotlight because his group is working on the Dharavi slum redevelopment project, and the BJP-led state government is allegedly allotting Mumbai land to his group.

Meanwhile, even before polling, the unopposed election of 67 candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance is also being attributed to the alleged use of money power. Questions are being raised about where crores of rupees came from for such candidates. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has publicly stated that his candidates were offered between Rs 1 crore and Rs 15 crore to withdraw from the contest, but they refused to accept the offers.

The issue of unopposed elections has also been challenged in the Bombay High Court, where a hearing may take place on Wednesday. Ahead of that, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare, responding to media queries at a press conference on Tuesday, said reports have been sought from the municipal corporations and the Commission will take a decision based on those reports.

It is alleged that money power was first used to ensure candidates were elected unopposed, and thereafter deployed in various ways to buy votes. In this period, several incidents of cash distribution to voters have come to light. The Eknath Shinde faction has accused the BJP of distributing money to buy votes.

In Navi Mumbai’s Koparkhairane area, Shinde faction workers accused BJP workers of distributing cash, leading to clashes between the two groups. Notably, the Shinde faction is part of the Mahayuti government along with the BJP. It is striking that the Shinde faction has itself exposed the BJP’s alleged methods of securing power.

In the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation election area near Mumbai, BJP workers were allegedly caught distributing money on Sunday evening in Dashrath Bhavan building in Tukaram Nagar, Dombivli. Along with BJP election pamphlets, envelopes containing Rs 3,000 were reportedly found. Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Nitin Patil, along with his workers, caught some BJP workers and recorded a video showing the entire incident.

The BJP, however, has denied the allegations. Similar accusations of cash distribution have surfaced in Latur, where BJP workers were allegedly distributing money in Ward No. 11 and were handed over to the police by Congress workers. A similar incident occurred in Ward No. 20 in Sangli.

In Mumbai’s Ward No. 124, the Uddhav Thackeray faction accused the Eknath Shinde faction of distributing money, leading to clashes between workers of both sides. Two workers from the Uddhav faction were injured.

With the Model Code of Conduct in force, the police machinery has become relatively more active. During a checkpoint operation in Mumbai’s Deonar area, Mumbai Police seized Rs 2.33 crore in cash from a van on Monday. Rs 4 crore was also seized in Nalasopara—the same area where BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde had come under scrutiny during the previous assembly elections over the alleged distribution of Rs 5 crore.

Election officials in Navi Mumbai also achieved a major breakthrough. During vehicle checks at Arenja Corner in Vashi, Rs 16.16 lakh in cash was seized from a white Mercedes car. Authorities have expressed suspicion regarding the source and intended use of the cash and have launched an investigation. This action was taken to curb the use of illegal funds.

According to the State Election Commission, so far Rs 7 crore in cash has been seized during enforcement actions related to municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, along with liquor worth Rs 5.28 crore and 95 different weapons.