Marathi pride, infrastructure push; Mahayuti unveils manifesto for BMC polls

As the Mahayuti comprising Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Shiv Sena and Republican Party of India A on Sunday released its manifesto for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC elections Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde harped on the issue of Marathi Pride with promises to uplift Mumbais Marathi Manus and protect the Marathi language and Marathi culture especially by ensuring affordable housing for all Mumbaikars while also making Mumbai an internationally benchmarked city in the next five yearsChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the other hand focused on the Mahayutis performance milestones across sectors of housing road railway and metro transport availability of water through the Gargai Dam better solid waste management especially with the wastetoenergy project at Deonar Dumping Ground sewage treatment plants health and creation of employment through highpaying jobs keeping up with the international trend of creating global capacity centres He announced that at the end of their BMC governments tenure of 5 years 2030 an action taken report along with a fact sheet will be presented against the promises made in this Mahayuti ManifestoAfter the alliance Shiv Sena UBT MNS and NCP SP released their manifesto last Sunday and the Congress Party released their manifesto later in the week all eyes were on the present ruling coalition of Maharashtra for its manifesto for the BMC election 2026 Notably NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will not contest the BMC elections as part of the coalitionMahayutis manifesto was published at the hands of Fadnavis Shinde and RPI chief Ramdas Athavale It features Prime Minister Narendra Modi Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe who Shinde considers his political guruOther BJP and Shiv Sena leaders also present on the dais for this occasion were Vinod Tawde Ashish Shelar Amit Satam Milind Deora and Rahul ShewaleAmong the financial sops announced as part of the manifesto are a 50 per centfare reduction in BEST for all women no hike in water tax for the next 5 years and interestfree loans for women up to Rs 5 lakh to start their own businessesSpeaking on the occasion Eknath Shinde said We are releasing Mahayutis manifesto at the hands of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Todays manifesto is for Mumbaikars to better their everyday life We have the Mahayuti government at the Centre and state and on January 15 the Mahayuti government will be formed in BMC This will mark the true makeover of MumbaiShinde added In 35 years we have worked in Mumbai and this work is in front of you With me as CM for the first 25 years and Devendra Fadnavis as CM for the past year This is for the wellbeing of Mumbais Marathi people and the protection of the Marathi language and Marathi cultureSpeaking about the MMR region Shinde said The core Mumbaikar who has gone out of Mumbai we will bring them back respectfully They have shifted to Vasai Virar Nalasopara Badlapur etc Who is responsible for thisFadnavis said In the past few years we have made efforts and instilled confidence in Mumbaikars that their issues can be solved We have done a lot of work to actually solve these issues Even if anyone else gives their manifesto our track record shows that we will ensure all promises are fulfilledThe Chief Minister also added Mumbais Marathi manus should not have to leave Mumbai we will give them homes in Mumbai We have done this in Abhyudaya Nagar BDD Chawl and Patra Chawl Some people only speak of homes for Marathi manus but we are the action takers