Winning the BMC is one thing; running it effectively is another. Only time will tell whether the Mahayuti allies will use their expertise, knowledge, and power to deliver real and lasting change

If Mumbaikars start seeing real improvements, safer commutes, cleaner water, smoother travel, and better roads, they may embrace the development agenda of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. File pic/Ashish Raje

Mumbai has voted for change, but the real test for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis begins now. Winning the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is one thing; running it effectively is another. 

From roads that vanish every monsoon to trains packed beyond capacity, from clogged drains to an unreliable water supply, the city has long suffered from promises that never materialised. Fadnavis and his ally Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction have experience in city governance, but experience alone will not make life easier for ordinary Mumbaikars. 

The question now is simple: will they use their expertise to deliver real change, or will this be just old wine in a new bottle? A new regime is all set to take charge of the BMC, a civic body that runs the city with a massive annual budget of R74,000 crore, which the undivided Shiv Sena ruled for nearly 25........

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