When it comes to votes, political parties can go to any lengths even blowing a big hole in the exchequer. Corporators in the BMC came together on Friday to exempt nearly 8 lakh tenements from paying property tax next year, causing a substantial loss of revenue to the civic body.

The civic body had put up a proposal to calculate property tax based on carpet area, as opposed to its earlier formula of computing it based on built-up area. This new proposal was passed on Thursday and will cause a 14 per cent increase in property tax for Mumbaikars next year.