Mumbai civic polls: Mahayuti releases manifesto, promises 50% bus concession for women alongside new benefits

With the Maharashtra municipal corporation poll entering the final phase, the Mahayuti alliance (BJP, Shiv Sena and RPI) announced the manifesto for the Mumbai civic body elections on Sunday, January 11, 2026; It promised 50% bus fare concession to women and interest-free loans of up to ₹5 lakh for women under the law. Ladki Bahin scheme.

Mahayuti also targets GenZ by offering internship programs; offers Mumbai Digital Sakhi to train women in AI and coding courses, and uses AI technology to deport Bangladeshis.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has highlighted AI technology and integrated it into various programs and projects to ensure transparency.

Addressing the integration of AI in BEST services, Mr. Fadanvis said, “Using AI integration, we reduce human intervention to increase transparency. AI integration will also be done in the development of a command and control system, which is used especially during the monsoon in Mumbai.”

“We are developing an AI tool to detect Bangladeshis. We have been working on it for the last three months and have achieved a 60% refund rate. Soon we will be able to detect Bangladeshis and deport them from Mumbai,” Mr. Fadnavis added.

housing agenda

All parties focused on housing and redevelopment, targeting the Marathi people and promised to keep them in Mumbai only by providing affordable housing.

Criticizing the Shiv Sena (UBT) and its last 25-year tenure in the BMC, Shiv Sena president and deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced plans to promote redevelopment, clustering of chawls, Occupancy Certificates (OCs) for buildings and ‘pagdi-free Mumbai’.

“We will pave the way for development by distributing computers to 20,000 pending buildings. Similar to Ghatkopar’s Ramabai housing project, where 17,000 houses have been built, we will also start the work of 17 other projects in the first phase,” Shinde added.

The Chief Minister noted the need to ensure transparency in appointment of developers for housing projects, where MHADA will have full rights to take decisions, monitor developers and create a “viable” ecosystem for businesses in Dharavi.

“By next year, Mumbai’s roads will be pothole-free,” Mr. Shinde said.

Transport in Mumbai

The BJP aims to develop the water transportation system in the MMR region from the current 85 nautical miles to a distance of at least 200 nautical miles. “Currently, RoRo and passenger water boats are attracting huge interest; we are planning to develop 21 jetties, a sustainable water taxi that can connect the Gateway of India to Navi Mumbai airport and other routes in the MMR region,” Mr. Fadnavis added.

On the railway front, Mahayuti proposes to add three more coaches to the existing trains and complete the 427 KM metro network in the MMR region of the metro plans.

Mr. Shinde compared the promises of Shiv Sena (UBT) in the manifesto and highlighted that his counterpart has not mentioned Bal Thackeray’s birth centenary anywhere, adding, “Their manifesto is Ghotalanama (scam manifesto), Bal Thackeray makes no mention of Hindutva and Marathi Manoos.”