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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.

Debt Dreams

Mumbai’s infrastructure ambitions received a significant boost with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) securing a whopping Rs. 4.07 lakh crore ($48 billion) in funding commitments from a set of public-sector financial institutions. With a target of raising $100 billion, MMRDA now intends to source the remaining $52 billion from global lenders to push forward an array of infrastructure projects across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).


The scale of ambition is undeniable. The funding will go toward projects in urban transport, housing, smart services, energy-efficient systems and multimodal connectivity - sectors that have long languished under inadequate investment and chronic delays. The lenders, including state-run power and housing finance agencies, have extended generous long-term lines of credit. The financial model, structured around a 20:80 equity-to-debt ratio, is designed to expedite delivery without unduly burdening public finances.


Yet Mumbai’s residents could be forgiven for reacting with cautious scepticism rather than celebration. MMRDA, for all its planning prowess and technocratic vision, has often struggled with implementation. Time and again, bold promises have dissolved into half-complete infrastructure and years-long delays.


Take the Mumbai Metro. First announced in 2006, the original master plan promised a comprehensive 146 km network by 2021. Nearly two decades on, only a fraction is operational. Monorail services, once pitched as a futuristic mobility solution, have been plagued by frequent breakdowns and questionable utility. Suburban rail and arterial roads remain chronically overburdened with no visible respite in sight.


The challenge is not ambition but execution. Securing debt is merely the beginning. Translating capital into concrete infrastructure requires institutional discipline, inter-agency coordination and political continuity - qualities that Mumbai’s urban governance ecosystem has too often lacked. Projects are delayed not just due to logistical complexity, but because of administrative opacity and overlapping jurisdictions.


There are also questions about repayment. The loans MMRDA has secured are substantial, but Indian cities have historically failed to monetise infrastructure assets effectively. Without clear mechanisms to generate long-term revenue, MMRDA could face mounting liabilities in future years. Moreover, the focus on marquee projects sometimes comes at the cost of fixing the basics. Pothole-ridden roads, outdated drainage systems and informal housing sprawl remain everyday realities for millions. Grand designs alone do not make a city liveable; functioning infrastructure does.


None of this is to suggest that MMRDA’s funding feat should be dismissed. The authority’s ability to marshal institutional finance at this scale is impressive, and the appetite for investing in urban India is clearly growing. But money must be matched by capacity. Without it, the Rs. 4 lakh crore will risk joining a long line of announcements that stirred hopes but delivered too little, too late.

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