BMC polls: Lack of elected council, shifting party affiliations leave first-time voters in a dilemma

Tanmayi Anthwal, a third-year BA student from SIES College in Mumbai, points out how political relations have been unstable in Maharashtra since she first voted in 2024. (File image)

As Mumbai prepares for long-pending civic polls, young voters across the city are voicing a growing sense of disconnect from local politics. For many, this will be their first time participating in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections due to a delay of over three years in holding the polls.

They say the prolonged absence of an elected council has left them in the dark about the functioning of corporators and the work done by local leaders, placing them in a difficult position when it comes to deciding who to vote for.

With a little over a week left for the voting day on January 15, youngsters from the city find themselves in a dilemma on how to choose the right candidate. Many pointed out that choosing candidates solely based on party affiliation – an approach that may have worked during Lok Sabha and Assembly elections – may not be effective in civic polls, especially in the context of rampant party-switches by local leaders. All this, according to them, has forced them to look for information on individual candidates to make an informed decision for civic polls.

According to Rutvi Choudhari, a third-year BA student at St Xavier’s College, with party alliances blurring, individual faces have gained importance in the civic elections. Highlighting that basic duties are glorified as achievements in campaigning, Choudhari said, “My timeline on social media is filled with issues such as the Air Quality Index (AQI), but no candidate is talking about it.”

Vaishnavi Devadiga, a third-year BA student at Ramnarain Ruia College, however, pointed out that the campaigning is based on topics that will bring traction. “Campaigns include identity politics on whether the mayor of Mumbai will be a Marathi or vague assurances such as the complete elimination of corruption from the BMC, but not real issues which continue to remain the same over the years,” she said. Devadiga listed congestion, bad road conditions, crowding in the city, waterlogging, and water supply disruption as some of the key issues faced by the city.

“Although civic elections are more about the face on the ground, a lot of voters decide their choice on the basis of their party preference, based on what resonates with them,” said Prashika Gaikwad, a second-year law student at the Vivekanand Education Society’s College of Law. “But with the altered political affiliations of many candidates – who have been largely missing from the locality for the past three years – I find it to be really difficult for a first-time voter to make a decision.”

However, according to Talha Patwekar, a student of MA Political Science at Mumbai University, there is a lack of demand for information from youngsters. “Forget about experiencing a corporator election, many of us have not seen a corporator working to understand the broad functioning of a civic body. There is a complete blind spot,” he said.