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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This...

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This development, confirmed by high-ranking party insiders, follows the realization that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) effectively ceded its claims on the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to protect the alliance, facilitating a “Mumbai for BJP, Kalyan for Shinde” power-sharing formula. The compromise marks a complete role reversal between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Both the political parties were in alliance with each other for over 25 years before 2017 civic polls. Back then the BJP used to get the post of Deputy Mayor while the Shiv Sena always enjoyed the mayor’s position. In 2017 a surging BJP (82 seats) had paused its aggression to support the undivided Shiv Sena (84 seats), preferring to be out of power in the Corporation to keep the saffron alliance intact. Today, the numbers dictate a different reality. In the recently concluded elections BJP emerged as the single largest party in Mumbai with 89 seats, while the Shinde faction secured 29. Although the Shinde faction acted as the “kingmaker”—pushing the alliance past the majority mark of 114—the sheer numerical gap made their claim to the mayor’s post untenable in the long run. KDMC Factor The catalyst for this truce lies 40 kilometers north of Mumbai in Kalyan-Dombivali, a region considered the impregnable fortress of Eknath Shinde and his son, MP Shrikant Shinde. While the BJP performed exceptionally well in KDMC, winning 50 seats compared to the Shinde faction’s 53, the lotter for the reservation of mayor’s post in KDMC turned the tables decisively in favor of Shiv Sena there. In the lottery, the KDMC mayor’ post went to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribe candidate. The BJP doesn’t have any such candidate among elected corporatros in KDMC. This cleared the way for Shiv Sena. Also, the Shiv Sena tied hands with the MNS in the corporation effectively weakening the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s alliance with them. Party insiders suggest that once it became clear the BJP would not pursue the KDMC Mayor’s chair—effectively acknowledging it as Shinde’s fiefdom—he agreed to scale down his demands in the capital. “We have practically no hope of installing a BJP Mayor in Kalyan-Dombivali without shattering the alliance locally,” a Mumbai BJP secretary admitted and added, “Letting the KDMC become Shinde’s home turf is the price for securing the Mumbai Mayor’s bungalow for a BJP corporator for the first time in history.” The formal elections for the Mayoral posts are scheduled for later this month. While the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—led by the Shiv Sena (UBT)—has vowed to field candidates, the arithmetic heavily favors the ruling alliance. For Eknath Shinde, accepting the Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai is a tactical retreat. It allows him to consolidate his power in the MMR belt (Thane and Kalyan) while remaining a partner in Mumbai’s governance. For the BJP, this is a crowning moment; after playing second fiddle in the BMC for decades, they are poised to finally install their own “First Citizen” of Mumbai.

Accused in Saif Ali Khan attack case seeks bail, claims he was booked in false case

  • PTI
  • Mar 29, 2025
  • 2 min read

Mumbai: The Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his Bandra house this January has moved a court here for bail claiming he has been implicated in the case.


In a plea before the sessions court on Friday, the accused Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, claimed "the first information report (FIR) is patently false and a false case has been registered against him".


He also said the police had not informed him the grounds of his arrest as mandated in law thus violating his fundamental rights.


The sessions court is expected to hear the plea on April 1.


Khan (54) was stabbed multiple times with a knife by an intruder inside his 12th-floor apartment in upscale Bandra on January 16, following which he underwent emergency surgery at Lilavati Hospital.


The police arrested Shariful two days after the attack.


The accused, in the plea, claimed his arrest was illegal, as the investigating agency had "clearly and blatantly disregarded" section 47 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which pertains to informing a person about the grounds of his arrest as well as right to bail.


The plea stated that even if the statements of witnesses are taken as gospel truth, without admitting anything on record, for the sake of arguments, it won't be able to fulfil the ingredient of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 311 (robbery or dacoity committed with the intent to cause death or grievous hurt).


Shariful, in the plea filed through Ajay Gawali, said all necessary recovery and discovery was done, the investigation is practically complete, and mere filing of chargesheet is pending.


The bail plea stated the accused has cooperated with the investigation and "no useful purpose will be served by detaining him further in custody".


At the time of Shariful's arrest, his father had claimed it was a case of mistaken identity and that his son was not the one seen in the CCTV footages from inside the actor's building.


The police, however, had debunked this claim by stating it had relied on facial recognition technology.

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