Updated On: 14 January, 2026 07:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Mayank Shekhar
If water, sanitation, roads, potholes, etc matter to you, I don’t know a more important vote than for local body elections; no?

The facade and interiors of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters at Mahanagarpalika Marg in Fort, South Mumbai. Pics/MAyank Shekhar
If you aren’t a history buff, unlikely that you’ve heard of the UK-trained barrister, freedom fighter, Vithalbhai Patel, who passed away in Geneva, aged 60, in 1933.
The nation went into deep mourning then, with reports of “shops shuttering, thousands gathered at meetings all over India.”