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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.

Dependable Cong face Chavan’s loss sends shock waive

Prithviraj Chavan

Mumbai: The defeat of Congress veteran and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in the Assembly polls in his home district Karad has come as a shock and big setback for him in his decades long political career.


One of the most educated lawmakers in the state, Chavan's career saw him becoming the chief minister of the state and also a Union minister.


Known for his clean and non-controversial image, Chavan, 78, took over as the state's chief minister when the Congress was battling allegations of corruption 2010.


When Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently campaigned in Karad South assembly seat, he quipped that Chavan was a politician of international standard and a misfit in the state Vidhan Sabha.


To the shock and surprise of even Chavan's critics, the senior leader lost the seat to BJP's Atul Bhosale by nearly 40,000 votes in the state poll results announced on Saturday.


The defeat is a new low for Chavan personally as well as the Congress, which suffered the worst ever-defeat bagging only 16 seats in the 288-member state assembly.


A graduate in mechanical engineering from BITS Pilani and doing his masters from the University of California, Berkeley, Chavan worked in the US aerospace industry as a research engineer for four year before taking up politics full time in 1991.


In India, he founded a company to develop defence electronic equipment and special purpose computers for air defence, missile control, ASW (anti-submarine warfare), aircraft testing equipment and made significant contributions to research in the field of Indian language computing.


His father and Congress leader Dajisaheb Chavan had served in the cabinets of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.


His mother Premla Chavan, popularly known as Premla kaki (aunt), was a three-term Congress MP before her death in 1991.


Prithviraj Chavan started his career in 1991 winning the then Karad seat, which had been held by his parents. He later also won the seat in 1996 and 1998 but lost in 1999.


In 2010, the Congress moved him to Mumbai to replace Ashok Chavan, who had to quit as the CM following a controversy over the Adarsh housing scam.

Prithviraj Chavan became an MLC after taking over as the CM and since 2014, he was MLA from the Karad South seat.


The Coastal Road in Mumbai and the Navi Mumbai international airport were conceptualised by him as chief minister.


An honorary visiting professor at BITS Pilani and a member of the council of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Prithviraj Chavan was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 and again in 2008.

 

In 2004, Prithviraj Chavan served as minister of state in the PMO.


He was member of the Atomic Energy Commission and Space Commission from 2004 to 2010. In 2008, he was given additional charge of  the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions, and the ministry of parliamentary affairs.


In 2009, he was elevated to the rank of MoS with independent charge of the ministry of science and technology, and the ministry of earth sciences in addition to his earlier responsibilities.


Cong's performance shocking: Chavan

Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said his party's defeat was "shocking" and dubbed it as the "worst-ever" loss in the state assembly polls.


Talking to PTI, Chavan said the Mahayuti government's Ladki Bahin Yojana, for providing financial assistance to women, clicked with voters in rural areas while polarisation hit the opposition MVA’s prospects in urban parts of the state.


"It is difficult to say whether there was a wave or tampering," said Chavan, who lost from his Karad South seat.


Chavan said he had spoken to All India Congress Committee in-charge for Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala, who has left for Delhi to discuss the state results with the Congress leadership.

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