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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.

Bio-compost: A Self- Sustaining Natural Ecosystem

Updated: Jan 27, 2025

Bio-compost

In my last week’s article, I had mentioned that fully ‘matured’ biocompost in your compost bin becomes a well-developed natural ecosystem in itself. Surprised? General notion is that the ecosystem comprises living plants and animals (Biotic Components) and the life sustaining natural resources like air, water, soil (Abiotic Components) etc. These are dependent on each other and constantly interact with each other in nature.


Considering this, how do we ascertain that a natural ecosystem is developed now in your compost bin? Well, let me explain. As the compost in your bin reaches its maturity, you would come across certain small and large insects. Among these, the most common ones are the fruit flies which are generally attracted to overripe ‘fruity’ items like banana. These flies are technically known as Drosophila.


These help bacteria to degrade larger chunks of fruits and fruit peels to decompose to a large extent. These flies lay their tiny eggs which eventually hatch releasing tiny larvae which keep on digesting their food and enrich the compost with nutrients. Another common insect species that you might see living in the compost bin is a type of scarab beetle.


In the accompanying photo, you can see mommy and daddy beetles and their little but thick and fat kids commonly known as the maggots. The adults reproduce, lay their eggs eventually developing into these maggots which then pass through different stages of development, form the pupa and then emerge as adult.


So, these beetles complete their entire life cycle generation after generation without ever coming out of the compost bin! And in fact, when the adults complete their life cycle, they die and their dead bodies add additional nutrients to the compost. Amazing! Isn’t it? So absolutely no worries at all! Those maggots or their parents will never crawl out of the bin; they just hate the light. If you bring them out and put them on the surface of compost in the bin, they will immediately bore down and wriggle inside. They always prefer to move deep inside the compost.


According to the research done by Dr. Gayatri Gujrathi under the guidance of a renowned environmentalist and ex-Principal of B. N. Bandodkar college of Science Thane, Dr. Madhuri Pejaver madam, these beetles help in composting in larval as well as in the adult stage. The constant tunnelling of larva churns and transfers the microbes and air through the compost and their excreta enhances the nutrient quality of the compost. (By the way, Dr. Gayatri has been awarded a Ph.D. degree by the University of Mumbai for this research!).


Besides these, there are sandfly larvae, certain types of ants etc. which help in composting process. More about this next week. Till then, have a nice weekend!


(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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