Banners & Beyond: Commotion in corridors of politics

 

 

Nagpur! Take a deep breath---if the AQI allows it. Because the municipal corporation elections are back after eight long years, and the city is buzzing, not with civic energy, mind you, but with loudspeakers blaring campaign songs from early morning, candidates waving from vehicles like mini-celebrities, and social media turning into a war zone. On January 15, 2026, we vote. But until then, we endure. Disclaimer: Some incidents in this article may sound mythical. That’s only because reality in Nagpur during elections often outpaces fiction. Loudspeakers--The Unofficial Alarm Clocks of Democracy Forget your morning chai and yoga playlist. These days, Nagpur wakes up to a remix of campaign slogans, devotional songs repurposed into political anthems. One resident reportedly mistook a campaign jingle for a new Bhojpuri release.

 

“I Shazamed it,” she confessed. “Turns out it was just our local corporator’s son rapping about drainage reform,” she noted with some embarrassment. Moreover, some candidates have taken to ‘bhajan sabhas’ with hidden manifestoes between verses. THE AQI While candidates shout over loudspeakers, no one seems to be talking about the elephant in the room, or the smog in the air. Nagpur’s AQI has been hovering in the ‘poor’ category for weeks, thanks to unchecked construction, vehicular emissions, and the annual winter bonfire of garbage piles. Water, Wastage and Cleanliness Nagpur’s water supply still plays musical chairs in many areas-sometimes murky, some times missing. Promises of 24x7 clean water have been made before, but the pipelines still leak of hope. Meanwhile, garbage collection also remains inconsistent and open drains persist n many areas.

 

Green Belts vs Grey Ambitions As the city expands, so does its appetite for concrete. Green belts are shrinking, trees are vanishing overnight and ‘development’ often means another mall, not a park. In Nagpur, residents recently protested the felling of 40 mature trees for a parking lot. Nagpur doesn’t just need more saplings, it needs sustainability and a plan that doesn’t treat nature as optional. Civic Sense As campaigners hand out pamphlets they also leave behind a trail of litter. Posters are slapped on compound walls, electric poles, and in one case, on a cow. Campaigns on Fast-Forward This year’s campaign has been a sprint, not a marathon. With barely a week to woo voters, candidates have been spotted doing everything short of skywriting their names. One candidate reportedly visited 47 households in a single day, only to realize he’d been canvassing in the wrong ward. “But the tea was good,” he later admitted.

 

Theatrics Galore Nagpur residents were stunned to see LED-fitted campaign trucks-imported from Uttar Pradesh. These trucks, equipped with massive digital screens, played flashy campaign videos with more transitions than a wedding slide-show. Meanwhile, former corporators are now uploading rebuttal videos to counter allegations, turning local politics into a full-blown YouTube series. So yes, laugh at the slogans, dodge the loudspeakers and roll your eyes at the recycled promises. But come January 15, and you show up! Because while the campaigns may be comic, the consequences are not. Nagpur deserves better than potholes and pollution wrapped in party colours. It deserves leaders who listen. And most importantly, it deserves voters who look beyond symbols and slogans and choose candidates who have actually shown up on the ground, not just on posters. This time, let’s not just vote for a face. Let’s vote for a future.