MUMBAI – Ganeshotsav has become a key political battleground in Mumbai, with parties using the holiday to win over the important Konkan voter base ahead of the upcoming local body elections. The ruling Mahayuti alliance, which includes the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) are all giving devotees a lot of free stuff, especially free rides to the Konkan region.
Rough estimates say that at least 40% of the more than six million individuals who came from the Konkan coast now live in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. At least 1.5 million of these people go return to their homes in Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg for the festival, making them a big group of voters.
The Shiv Sena, commanded by Eknath Shinde, is in charge and has organized for 2,379 buses to take more than 100,000 people to the event. “They will take 95,160 people to Konkan for free, with food and water,” stated a Shiv Sena leader. He also said that the total number of devotees they are serving is over 125,000, which is the most by any party.
The BJP, which is led by Ashish Shelar in Mumbai, is also working hard. The party has set up 550 State Transport (ST) vehicles and paid for four special trains to carry more than 50,000 people. Suhas Aadivarekar, who is the head of the Konkan Vikas Aghadi and a deputy president of the Mumbai BJP, said that individual MLAs and former corporators have arranged for additional 500 buses on their own.
The Mahayuti coalition has spent a lot of money on festival-related activities in addition to giving people free rides. For example, they spent ₹11.50 crore to pay for festivities and competitions for Marathi-speaking voters from Konkan who live in Mumbai. The cultural affairs department, directed by Ashish Shelar, also made a formal government decision to make Ganeshotsav a “state festival” and gave Ganesh mandals and home Ganpatis ₹11.50 crore in financing. Most of these are from Konkan.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), which is still a strong candidate for the Konkan vote, is behind in the freebie battle since it doesn’t have the resources. Vinayak Raut, a former MP and party leader, said that the party had set up more than 200 ST buses. Raut also slammed the ruling alliance, saying that their special trains are often four hours late because the Mumbai-Goa route doesn’t have enough infrastructure.
Ganeshotsav has become more important politically because parties see it as a direct method to interact with and appeal to voters who have strong ties to their original Konkan roots. There are a lot of voters involved, so the free travel and money help are considered as strong ways to win over voters and get them to vote in the next election.