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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.

Apolitical Agencies?

The recent exoneration of ICICI Bank and NDTV promoters in a 2017 case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be cause for relief, but it casts a harsh spotlight on a disturbing pattern: the strategic use of state apparatus to target dissenting voices. After nearly seven years of probing and a forensic audit, the CBI concluded there was no collusion, no abuse of position, and no merit to the allegations. This raises the profound question as to why were these individuals targeted in the first place?


The NDTV case is emblematic of an increasingly prevalent practice in India’s political and economic landscape - the use of investigative agencies as instruments of pressure. In this instance, the scrutiny of the promoters, Prannoy and Radhika Roy, seemed to align with a pattern witnessed in the past decade: journalists, media houses, and corporations that exhibit independence or defiance of government orthodoxy find themselves subject to investigations that, more often than not, culminate in a whimper rather than a bang.


The invocation of agencies like the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Income Tax Department has become a familiar lever in the apparatus of power. These bodies, mandated to ensure accountability and uphold the rule of law, risk eroding their legitimacy when perceived as cudgels wielded for political ends. This undermines both democratic norms and investor confidence—cornerstones essential for any economy aspiring to global influence.


The NDTV case is emblematic of an increasingly prevalent practice in India’s political and economic landscape—the use of investigative agencies as instruments of pressure. In this instance, the scrutiny of the promoters, Prannoy and Radhika Roy, seemed to align with a pattern witnessed in the past decade: journalists, media houses, and corporations that exhibit independence or defiance of government orthodoxy find themselves subject to investigations that, more often than not, culminate in a whimper rather than a bang.


The case against the Roys and NDTV served as an illustrative test of media independence. Critics argue that it was no coincidence the network’s editorial line had, at times, run counter to prevailing government narratives.


The routine deployment of financial and regulatory probes not only intimidates but also diverts attention from real policy challenges. The energy spent on legal theatrics drains both the targets and the agencies themselves, diverting resources from addressing substantive issues such as financial frauds that genuinely merit investigation. Besides, if the objective central government was to exert pressure, then it has had the boomerang effect of casting the Roys as inadvertent martyrs in the battle for journalistic freedom. Reforming the framework within which agencies operate is essential to arresting this trend. Structural and procedural independence, coupled with robust oversight mechanisms, could insulate investigative bodies from political tugs-of-war. Until then, the exoneration of ICICI Bank and NDTV’s promoters will serve as a bittersweet reminder that innocence is no bulwark against being drawn into the machinery of power politics.

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