On Mithi’s banks, Congress targets corruption in BMC

The party also released a “charge sheet” against what it described as the “mega-corrupt” Mahayuti government, accusing it of failing to ensure transparency and accountability in the BMC

Mumbai: With the sewage-choked Mithi River as the backdrop, the Congress on Friday launched its campaign for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, projecting the polluted water body as a symbol of alleged civic corruption and administrative collapse in the country’s richest civic body.

iMumbai, India - December 26, 2025: Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Mumbai Congress president and MP Varsha Gaikwad, along with party leaders, releases a chargesheet against the ruling party while showing garbage-choked Mithi River during a live demonstration at Bharat Nagar near BKC in Mumbai, India, on Friday, December 26, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The party also released a “charge sheet” against what it described as the “mega-corrupt” Mahayuti government, accusing it of failing to ensure transparency and accountability in the BMC, which has functioned without elected representatives for over three years.

Listing 13 points, the Congress dubbed the civic body the “Brasht Mahayuti Corporation” and blamed the ruling alliance—comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—for persistent problems such as poor water supply, traffic congestion and deteriorating public transport.

The entire Mumbai leadership of the Congress, including city chief Varsha Gaikwad, legislators Amin Patel, Aslam Shaikh, Dr Jyoti Gaikwad, Bhai Jagtap, former minister Naseem Khan, and national secretary Sachin Sawant, were present at the banks of the Mithi in Valmiki Nagar, Bandra East, for the campaign launch.

Earlier this year, the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing began probing an alleged ₹65-crore scam in Mithi River desilting works carried out between 2013 and 2023. The investigation has led to the arrest of contractors and civic officials, while actor Dino Morea has also been questioned in the case.

Leaders in the Mahayuti government have sought to link the alleged fraud with the Shiv Sena (UBT), since the undivided Shiv Sena under the Thackerays controlled the BMC from 1997 to 2022. Against this backdrop, the Congress’s decision to launch its campaign at the Mithi, after announcing it would contest the BMC polls independently, was politically significant.

Sawant said the venue of Friday’s campaign launch was deliberate, to ensure that the core issues of Mumbaikars were not diverted in the name of caste, religion, language or region. “If rivers are worshipped as symbols of goddess Saraswati, then Mithi too is a river. The prime minister should do an aarti here as he does in Varanasi,” he said.

Sawant has earlier alleged significant corruption and irregularities in tenders linked to the Mithi’s cleaning and rejuvenation, including a ₹1,700-crore contract awarded to the Adani Group.

The Congress’s charge sheet also accused the government of privatising public services such as health and education, and handing over public assets to private entities. “Dharavi, Mithi River, airports and ports handed to Adani. Mahayuti is systematically converting Mumbai into ‘Adani city,’” it claimed.

Despite the BMC being the country’s richest municipal corporation, Gaikwad said roads, drainage and water supply remained in poor condition across the city, and demanded an independent probe into alleged civic corruption.

She said the Congress will fight the civic polls, scheduled for January 15, on the plank of development, without creating unnecessary disputes. “Under the administrator’s rule, Mumbaikars were looted, as there were no elected representatives for three years. We have raised our voice against bad roads, traffic problems, air pollution and potholes. The administration has damaged the country’s financial capital and done injustice to the people,” she said.

The charge sheet also cited what it called a “ ₹3,000-crore garbage scam” and alleged that despite ₹17,000 crore being spent on road concreting, work was incomplete on 723 roads, all of which the party said had a direct bearing on the life of Mumbaikars.

Although the Congress has announced its decision to contest the BMC elections independently, Gaikwad confirmed that the party is currently in alliance talks with various outfits, like Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, the Left parties, the NCP (SP), and the Republican Party of India (Gavai). The party is expected to release its manifesto soon.