Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra on Sunday unveiled its long-awaited poll manifesto, outlining a series of initiatives ranging from interest-free loans for women to making Mumbai slum-free and deploying artificial intelligence to identify illegal immigrants.

The Mahayuti coalition comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The manifesto was launched in the presence of several senior leaders, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Ramdas Athawale, Vinod Tawde, Ameet Satam and Ashish Shelar.

Addressing the media, Fadnavis said the manifesto was focused on development and aimed at easing the day-to-day lives of Mumbai’s residents. Taking a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, he said Mahayuti combined development with its ideological commitment to Hindutva.

“Some people only talk about houses for the Marathi manoos, but we are actually delivering them. We have tried to make the daily lives of Mumbaikars easier. Uddhav Thackeray does not speak about development. We are unapologetic about Hindutva, but 95 per cent of our agenda is development,” Fadnavis said.

Among the key promises, the Chief Minister announced a plan to provide interest-free loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for women through the BMC. He also highlighted the government’s focus on tackling illegal immigration, claiming that Maharashtra had deported the highest number of Bangladeshi nationals.

Fadnavis said the government was working with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to develop an AI-based tool to identify illegal immigrants, including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. He also referred to an alleged birth certificate scam involving illegal immigrants and said land had been identified for the construction of a detention centre.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the manifesto reflected the work done by the Mahayuti government in Mumbai over the past three-and-a-half years and outlined plans to accelerate development. “We want to bring back the Marathi manoos who left Mumbai. We want to redevelop old pagdi buildings and make Mumbai slum-free. Those who were in charge of the BMC earlier did nothing,” he said.

The manifesto launch comes as political parties intensify their preparations for the high-stakes BMC elections, widely seen as a crucial battleground in Maharashtra’s politics.