Hope poll campaigns focus on citizens’ issues

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has planned a yatra in Mumbai this month, ahead of the BMC polls. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis will lead the march, said city BJP president Ashish Shelar. He claimed the party will "awaken" Mumbaikars about Thackeray Sena's appeasement politics to garner votes.

A BJP leader also cited that he foresaw trouble for the city. He claimed his party seeks votes on the development platform, while the other is looking at caste and religion.

We can only say that no party is above doing whatever it can for votes, never mind what leaders say. The moot point is that the yatras and campaigns will gain momentum in the coming days as elections to the prestigious, cash rich body are nearing now.

So, every campaign designed to woo votes must keep the peace in the city. The focus should be on the work the civic authorities will do, and how they will respond to citizens' problems, accusations of apathy, and address this with intent and urgency.

The people will be much happier if the run-up talks about how flooding, sanitation, cleanliness and encroachment is to be tackled, rather than constant harping on non-issues. Can the parties at least give some indication about the plans they have for the biggest peeves, potholes for instance? How can the overall state of the roads, while one agrees all may not be under BMC jurisdiction, be addressed? Is there some way in which different agencies, which are in charge of different facilities for the city, can work together instead of the usual round of passing the buck?

These are the big questions for Mumbaikars and they want answers. Pulling down people and accusing each other of creating trouble is predictable when it comes to parties. Let us see a change in yatras where the accent is not criticism but constructive conversation.