Mahayuti's victory must now translate into good governance

There is no time to lose and the Mahayuti with its rich mandate needs to address Pune's worsening traffic congestion on a war footing

- ABHAY VAIDYA

The BJP-led Mahayuti's historic landslide in the 2024 assembly elections in Maharashtra now raises hopes for good governance in the state.

The BJP leaders at the Centre and the State who are in the driver's seat must bear in mind that the thumping mandate given to them by the people of Maharashtra is not a reflection of good governance, but in the hope of good governance.

It is essentially the Mahayuti's electoral strategy of the Ladki Bahin scheme of direct cash transfers for poor women; a pro-Maratha reservations and a pro-OBCs approach, and consolidation of Hindu votes coupled with the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which resulted in this victory.

The Mahayuti leaders must now roll up their sleeves and begin delivering on good governance for the state which is facing a number of critical issues such as employment generation and economic resurgence.

In Pune, the BJP and its alliance partner NCP won 10 of the 11 seats in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, rousing fresh hopes of better governance.

An issue that needs to be addressed urgently is that of worsening traffic congestion and in the coming years, this prominent IT-education-industrial hub could well emerge as the city with the worst traffic congestion in the country.

On 9th November, some prominent citizens of Pune focused attention on this problem and the possible solutions at a gathering organised by Top Management Consortium Foundation (TMCF) and the Pune Platform for Collaborative Response (PPCR).