BMC Elections 2026: Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Tanvi Dinesh Rao on Youth Participation and Her Plans if Elected

Mumbai: As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections 2026 are just days away, campaigning for the elections has intensified. Candidates across party lines are engaging directly with citizens of their wards to understand the day-to-day issues they face in their localities. Tanvi Dinesh Rao, contesting the elections from the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction from Ward 50, is among the youngest candidates in the race.
In an interview with The News Man, Tanvi spoke about various issues residents have been raising during her door-to-door campaign, her priorities if she is elected as a corporator, and her views on why more and more youth should enter politics.

Ward-Level Concerns Raised by Residents
Tanvi said her door-to-door campaign has highlighted a clear divide in the problems faced by residents living in housing societies and those living in slum areas.
“There are two parts that I have realised. When it comes to slum door-to-door campaigning, people have very different problems, and when it comes to buildings, they have very different problems. In slum areas, we all know the sanitation issues, cleanliness issues, and water supply problems — they don’t have sufficient water. All these issues are there.”
According to her, residents of housing societies raised a separate set of civic concerns.
“When it comes to society people, they are facing problems with roads, illegal parking, and there are a lot of hawkers. These issues are being addressed to me because there is no one who has actually been doing it for many years,” Rao said.

 

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First Steps if Elected as Corporator
Asked what her first action would be if elected as a corporator, Tanvi said her primary focus would be on understanding the core problems and approaching them systematically.
“First, I will try to focus on spreading more awareness and looking into which problems are major and then try to solve them through proper problem-solving,” she said.
“For example, with the parking issue, I first need to figure out whether the vehicles are commercial or private. Once I figure that out, I can actually take actionable steps ahead.”

How She Views Senior Politicians
Speaking about senior politicians, she acknowledged their experience but said younger leaders often approach issues differently and that humanity is more important than everything else.
“Our senior politicians are more experienced and they have been in this field for a very long time,” she said.
“But as youth, we think differently. Even today, people are still talking about differences in caste, language, and many such things. I don’t think youth focus on all these things as much. I believe that humanity is more important than everything else.”

Youth Participation in Politics
On whether more youth should enter politics, Rao responded in the affirmative.
“Yes, I think youth should actually take interest. If more youth come into politics, we can actually bring in a lot of change,” she said.

Message to First-Time Voters
Addressing first-time voters, Tanvi said her age and personal approach could be her strengths.
“I would like to tell first-time voters that I am young and I think differently,” she said.
“One of my strengths as a human being is that I am an empath. I actually absorb and try to feel the problems of other people. That helps me not just understand their problems, but also take action to solve them.”

Message to Gen Z
In her message to Gen Z voters, Rao urged them to participate actively in the electoral process.
“I would request all Gen Z voters to please go and vote first,” she said.
“Please study your candidates. Since these are local elections, I would request everyone to study their candidates and take their decision wisely.”

Tanvi Dinesh Rao is contesting from Ward 50 in the 2026 BMC elections as a candidate of the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction against Rajput Vikram Pratapsingh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samir Balram Mungekar of the Indian National Congress (INC). The ward is expected to see a closely watched contest, with local civic issues likely to influence voter sentiment.