With days to go before Mumbai votes for its next civic body, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has unveiled a manifesto that blends an ambitious, technology-driven vision for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) with a hard political stance on migration.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday released the manifesto, pitching technology and artificial intelligence as the backbone of Mumbai’s future governance while promising a stringent crackdown on illegal migrants. The BJP–Shiv Sena–RPI(A) combine said it would collaborate with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to develop AI-based systems to identify and track illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants in the city.
“We will free Mumbai of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. With IIT’s help, we will develop an AI tool to identify them,” Fadnavis said, marking one of the manifesto’s most politically charged commitments.
Beyond migration, the alliance has outlined plans to overhaul civic services through technology. The manifesto speaks of adopting “Japanese technology” to modernise municipal operations and shifting key services onto digital platforms, allowing citizens to access them directly via mobile phones. Artificial intelligence, Fadnavis said, would also be used to curb corruption and monitor civic works.
Taking aim at the previous civic administration, the chief minister said Mumbai had suffered from nearly two-and-a-half decades of poor governance. “The city has seen 25 years of inefficiency. Our goal is to create a corruption-free municipal corporation,” he said. The undivided Shiv Sena governed the BMC from 1997 until the House was dissolved in 2022, after which the civic body has been run by an administrator appointed by the state government.
On infrastructure, the Mahayuti has promised to make Mumbai flood-free within five years. The manifesto proposes a ₹17,000-crore climate action fund, the construction of underground floodwater storage tanks, and a comprehensive overhaul of the city’s ageing drainage system. IIT will also be tasked with studying Mumbai’s topography and designing a scientific drainage model to mitigate monsoon flooding.
The document also outlines plans to modernise education, including the establishment of AI laboratories in all municipal schools to prepare students for a technology-driven economy.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, speaking at the manifesto launch, said development would go hand in hand with safeguarding Mumbai’s Marathi identity. He announced the creation of a separate cultural department within the BMC to promote local art, literature and heritage. The alliance has also proposed Marathi libraries, cultural centres and a “Mumbai Fellowship” programme to support young Marathi talent.
Shinde added that the history of Mumbai and the Samyukta Maharashtra movement would be included in school textbooks, and reiterated the government’s commitment to setting up the Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Medical University.
