Malayali corporator from Thrissur is Dharavi's voice in BMC

When Jagdish Makkunny Thaivalapill boarded a train from Thrissur to Bombay (now Mumbai) more than four decades ago, the 17-year-old was following a path familiar to many Malayali youths of his generation — migrating to India’s industrial capital in search of work to support their families. With his father having died early, the responsibility of caring for his mother and siblings fell on him. What he could not have imagined then was that he would one day become the elected corporator of Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slum settlements.

A native of Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district, Jagdish, 65, has recently secured a second consecutive term after winning Rajiv Gandhi Nagar (Ward 185) in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) ticket.  Dharavi has seven wards, and Rajiv Gandhi Nagar alone houses over one lakh people, with around 60,000 eligible voters from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. According to Jagdish, voters here prioritise personality and accessibility over party labels. “People vote for the person, not the party,” he says.

Jagdish reached Bombay with the help of an acquaintance named Jose and began his career after completing an ITI course. He worked as a trainee with a contracting company, lived in bachelor accommodations initially, and later moved into a house after marriage.

The turning point came in 1992, when he leased a bar in Dharavi. Frequent disputes there brought him into contact with local Shiv Sena workers. “During one altercation, a group of youngsters came to my support. I later learned they were close aides of a Shiv Sena leader. That marked my entry into the party,” he says. After nearly six years of grassroots work, he was appointed shakha pramukh, steadily building a strong local base.

The Shiv Sena fielded him for the first time in the 2017 BMC elections, where he defeated BJP leader Sanjay Upadhyay — now the MLA from Borivali — by a margin of over 300 votes. Even after the party split, Jagdish chose to remain with the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction. “This time, senior BJP leaders, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, actor and party’s Tamil Nadu vice-president Khushbu, and its leader Annamalai, campaigned in Dharavi. Despite that, I won again — with a margin of 3,700 votes,” he says.

Most residents in his ward are daily wage workers — leather workers, tailors, drivers, carpenters and small traders. “While others campaign with large entourages and luxury vehicles, I walk or use a two-wheeler, visiting homes one by one. My ward is just five minutes from my house, and people see me as one among them,” he adds.

 Jagdish also highlights Dharavi’s strong sense of community. “There is no north-south divide here. When someone dies, the entire locality comes together — from preparing the body to accompanying it to the crematorium. Dharavi has immense warmth and solidarity,” he says, adding that though Mumbai has a large Malayali population, his ward has only a few. “Yet, I have never felt like an outsider.”

Serving as a corporator during the COVID-19 pandemic was among the toughest phases of his public life. “Food was the biggest challenge. With support from NGOs and sometimes money from my own pocket, we ensured people were fed,” he says. Jagdish is also critical of the BMC’s functioning, alleging neglect and corruption. During his first term, he focused on drainage, sanitation, drinking water supply and street lighting — priorities he says will continue.

Jagdish's wife, Thulasi, and son, Anand, who works in the advertising sector, support him fully. Back in Kerala, his relatives closely follow his journey. He also owns land and a house in Thrissur and visits whenever possible. Alongside politics, he works as an air-conditioner installation contractor. “I have a steady income, so I don’t need to resort to corruption,” he says.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has won the Mumbai Corporation this time, ending the Shiv Sena’s dominance since the 1970s and paving the way for the first BJP mayor in the BMC’s history.

Among other winners with Kerala roots, Congress’s Meher Mohsin Haider retained Ward 66 in Andheri East by a margin of 7,200 votes. A native of Cheruvathoor in Kasaragod, she is the wife of former corporator Mohsin Haider, with her family holding the ward for 28 years. In Goregaon’s Adarsh Nagar ward, BJP’s Sreekala Pillai won by over 3,000 votes. She has family roots in Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram and is the daughter of former corporator and Congress leader R R Pillai.

In the Vasai–Virar Municipal Corporation, Ward 26 was won by first-time contender Marshlin Ajil Chacko of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA). Though a Maharashtra native, Marshlin has strong Kerala ties through her husband, Ajil Chacko of Thumbamon in Pathanamthitta. She learned Malayalam after marriage and campaigned extensively in the language, capitalising on the ward’s sizeable Malayali voter base.

She defeated a seasoned BJP candidate by over 1,400 votes. Fluent in multiple languages, Marshlin connected easily with voters. Formerly a banking professional, she later ventured into FMCG distribution. The couple, who have a 13-year-old daughter, Ananya, maintain close ties with Kerala and visit Pathanamthitta every year.