As campaigning intensifies for the upcoming Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections, a wave of public frustration over collapsed civic infrastructure is boiling over, with residents directly confronting former corporators seeking re-election.
Years of Neglect Erupt During Campaign Walks
In a stark display of voter discontent, former Congress corporator Manoj Sable, who recently switched to the BJP, faced stiff resistance during door-to-door campaigning in prabhag 17D. A group of women residents stopped him at the entrance of a locality, refusing to let him proceed further. Their anger stemmed from years of unresolved issues: overflowing drains, erratic water supply, broken internal roads, and dark stretches without streetlights.
The residents accused leaders of forgetting them after elections. "Leaders remember us only during polls. After that, we are left to live with filth and flooding," one woman told Sable. They highlighted that sewer line complaints had been pending for nearly a decade. Sable attempted to pacify the crowd, promising to prioritize civic grievances if elected.
Viral Confrontations Over Selective Development
A similar scene unfolded in prabhag 1, where BJP candidate and former corporator Virendra "Vikky" Kukreja encountered an agitated crowd in the Nari area. When he tried to address them, residents cut him short, demanding answers for the persistently potholed roads and poor maintenance. A video of this confrontation went viral on social media.
Kukreja pointed to his efforts in constructing a road from Sonu Paan Mandir to Pravin Hardware as proof of development. However, residents sharply retorted that the stretch did not benefit them as they didn't live along that route. "We are still walking through craters every day," one resident said, accusing the civic body and representatives of selective development.
A Broader Pattern of Frustration in Neglected Pockets
The backlash was not isolated. During a campaign walk by BJP candidates in Gulshan Nagar of ward 4, residents delivered a blunt message: leaders absent for the past five years had no moral right to seek votes now. They questioned the prolonged absence of their representatives, noting that they only returned to "beg for votes" at election time.
These incidents underscore a growing frustration among urban voters, especially in peripheral and neglected areas. Chronic issues like drainage, water supply, road repairs, and sanitation have remained unresolved across political terms and party changes.
An important administrative detail adds context: the NMC general body was dissolved in March 2022, and the civic administration has been under an administrator's rule since. This meant corporators had no formal authority to resolve civic issues. However, many citizens remained unaware of this reality and continued to blame local leaders for being inaccessible—a sentiment that intensified when elections were announced last month.
