‘No property tax for 700-sq-feet flats, ₹1,500 dole for domestic workers’

Thackeray cousins unveil a manifesto for Mumbaikars, promising property tax waivers, cash handouts, affordable housing, and improved public services.

MUMBAI: A property tax waiver for houses within 700 square feet, a ₹1,500 monthly cash handout for house helps and fisherwomen, 10-rupee subsidised meals, free parking at the BMC’s parking lots, a civic ambulance service for citizens and 100,000 affordable houses for Marathi speakers—these are just some of the goodies promised to Mumbaikars by Thackeray cousins Uddhav and Raj in their joint manifesto.

Glimpses of the manifesto were given by two third-generation Thackerays—Aaditya and Amit—representing the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS respectively at a meeting of the alliance’s candidates on Friday. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

Glimpses of the manifesto were given by two third-generation Thackerays—Aaditya and Amit—representing the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS respectively at a meeting of the alliance’s candidates on Friday. The 227 candidates were told to approve the manifesto drawn up by Amit and Aaditya Thackeray. It will be finalised by Uddhav and Raj and released on Sunday.

Taking a cue from the Mahayuti’s Ladki Bahin Yojana, which was cited as a prominent reason for the alliance’s victory in the 2024 assembly polls, the Thackeray cousins have copy-pasted the scheme with a difference of name—Swabhiman Nidhi—under which a monthly dole of ₹1,500 will be paid to domestic workers and fisherwomen.

In the 2017 civic polls, the undivided Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray had promised to waive property tax on residential flats of up to 500 square feet, which was fulfilled. The Thackeray cousins have now promised to extend this to flats of up to 700 sq ft. As the Marathi manoos in Mumbai is the focus of their campaign, the alliance has also promised 100,000 affordable houses to the Marathi-speaking population in the next five years.

On the macro front, Aaditya spoke about a plan called ‘Reinventing Mumbai’, under which the alliance promised to develop a new international financial centre on the lines of Gift City in Gujarat on 1,800 acres of “idle land” belonging to Mumbai Port. The lessees and encroachers on this land, from Colaba to Sewri, will be resettled in situ.

BEST plays a prominent role in the manifesto. Aaditya, who played a role in getting air-conditioned BEST buses for Mumbai, said the alliance had drawn up a plan to revive the iconic public transport system. “We will get 10,000 electric buses and 900 double-decker buses for BEST and revive the old routes,” he said. “We will also revive the ticketing scheme in which people could travel five km for ₹5.” Aaditya added that Mumbaikars using up to 100 units per month would be given free power. “In fact, BEST will apply for a licence to distribute electricity in the suburbs,” he said.

The manifesto also focuses on health services, including a promise to start a BMC cancer hospital and ambulance service. “There’s the Tata Memorial Hospital but one more set-up is needed,” said Amit Thackeray. The BMC, in fact, did have a cancer hospital in Marol, but the project was sold to a private company, Seven Hills, and is now run by it.

Aaditya added that the Maharashtra government’s emergency ambulance service called 108 was not in evidence in the city now. “I don’t know if the services are still continuing, but we will have the BMC start a network of its own,” he said. Talking about BMC-run medical colleges, he said that apart from the existing ones at Sion, KEM, Cooper and Nair, the alliance planned to have medical colleges at Rajawadi, MT Agarwal, Shatabdi Kandivali, Shatabdi Govandi and Bhagwati Hospital. “We have been hearing that these will be privatised, which they should not be,” he said.

The manifesto promises a range of other facilities, including creches for working parents in every ward and public toilets for women at every two km. The two parties have claimed that they will get the Development Control and Promotion Regulations amended to introduce a One Flat One Car Park rule (one mandatory free parking slot with every flat bought in Mumbai). Further, the manifesto promises, the BMC’s parking lots will be made available for free to citizens.

When asked for a response to the manifesto, BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “The BMC was ruled by Uddhav Thackeray for years, but his party didn’t even fulfil the basic requirements of Mumbai. No Mumbaikar will believe them.”

Upadhye’s words were echoed by Shiv Sena national spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam. “Uddhav Thackeray has ruled for two and a half decades,” he said. “What difference will a manifesto make when they could not deliver for the last 25 years? It’s just an eyewash.”