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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.

Congress workers rue ‘weak’ candidates

Mumbai: Veteran Congress leaders and party workers are not only unhappy with the recent seat sharing formula with the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners but many of them are dejected over the party’ choice of the candidates.


The Congress list of candidates now stands at 103, while the NCP stands at 87 and Shiv Sena (UBT) at 84.

Congress insiders allege that despite pushing for strong and able candidates, the powers that be have ignored the pleas of the ground level party worker and in some seats of Mumbai and its surrounding areas have instead favoured candidates with no track record of their own.


“Around 23 seats are such that have ‘weak candidates’ meaning those seats have been allocated only to favour the alliance partners and not the Congress party,” said a veteran Congress leader. He pointed out names like Heera Devasi (who has been allotted a ticket from Colaba constituency) was never even a Congress office bearer or someone like Asif Zakaria from Bandra (W) who despite being nominated twice for MLA polls in the past had lost terribly. Another seat is that of Charkop which has been allotted to Yashwant Singh, less known candidate.


“Today the list does not even have a North Indian like ex-party workers Sanjay Nirupam or Kripashankar Singh to fetch the 50 lakh plus North Indian voters that the party represents in areas of Navi Mumbai, Palghar and Bhiwandi as well as in certain pockets of Maharashtra,” the Congress leader said. The alliance partners knowing this deliberately sidelined Nana Patole’s and other leaders’ requests to see that they got the best seats to contest.


Many Congressmen alleged that all of this is a ploy by the alliance partners themselves to see that they win from the best seats and lay claim to the post of the Chief Minister if the MVA comes to power. It makes no difference that the Congress is contesting from over 100 seats simply because most of the seats eventually do not work in favour of the party and the candidates are sure to lose in many.


Sachin Sawant, one of the Congress candidates who was allotted a ticket by the party from Andheri (west) returned the ticket in favour of his colleague Ashok Jadhav instead. He says it happens and ultimately doesn’t matter. “It is a good thing that the party considered you. The seat which I was demanding has gone to the Shiv Sena (UBT). So it is not the fault of our leadership. They took it themselves,” Sawant said.


Another Congress leader pointed that NCP and Shiv Sena have favoured their ground level workers. All parties have given tickets to their ex-councillors whereas the Congress has ignored all former councillors. “The ones who did get the tickets are those who are backed by people in the decision-making process. They have political godfathers and get adjusted in some way or the other. We don’t get adjusted. Local ground level leaders like me have been ignored due to which the Congress party might end up paying a heavy price,” said the leader.


Nizamudding Rayen, Spokesperson of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), said that the Congress was always the largest party and  will be the largest one. “Despite what anyone says, the Congress will come back as the number one party in Maharashtra.”

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