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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.

Fatal Collision

The catastrophic collision off Mumbai’s coast which claimed the lives of 13 people, underscores a chilling lapse in the Indian Navy’s operational safeguards. A speedboat, testing a newly fitted engine, veered off course and collided with a passenger ferry bound for Elephanta Island, causing it to capsize. The devastating incident highlights both the perilous nature of naval trials and the question of accountability in safeguarding civilian lives.


While the engine malfunction is believed to have caused the craft to lose control, the tragedy raises alarming questions about the Navy’s procedures for testing such critical components.


The questions that must be answered are both simple and profound. Why was a passenger ferry allowed to share waters with a Navy craft conducting a high-speed engine trial? Testing the limits of a newly installed engine cannot come at the cost of human life. Why were there no clear parameters set for conducting such tests in busy shipping lanes, especially when passenger vessels were known to be operating nearby?


This incident is not just a failure of operational procedure but also a stark reminder of the relative indifference to civilian safety. The victims, ordinary citizens simply enjoying a day out, were at the mercy of a Navy craft testing its engine in a scenario that no one could have predicted. And yet, such oversight is precisely the responsibility of the military, an institution tasked with the safety and well-being of its citizens.


It is not the first time that India’s defence forces have faced criticism for operational errors that led to public harm. But this incident, with its gruesome toll, demands a new standard. The Navy must rethink how it conducts testing and ensure that civilian life is never again jeopardized for the sake of a trial run. Clear protocols must be established, limiting such tests to areas far from populated routes, and ensuring that the trial vessels are equipped with proper safety measures.


Moreover, the Navy’s response in the immediate aftermath of the crash, while swift, should not distract from the systemic failures that allowed this tragedy to unfold. Had the Navy ensured that more rigorous precautions were in place, lives could have been spared. Instead, we are left with an avoidable tragedy and unanswered questions that only add to the heartbreak of those who lost their loved ones.


Given the high volume of civilian vessels in Mumbai’s waters, particularly those ferrying passengers to islands like Elephanta, it is crucial that military trials are conducted in designated, off-limits zones to prevent future accidents. Such mishaps, often blamed on lapses in coordination and oversight, reflect systemic issues that have yet to be addressed comprehensively within the military’s operational framework. Given the increasing number of civilian boats operating in popular coastal areas across the country, the urgency of implementing more stringent safety measures and conducting trials in controlled environments cannot be overstated.

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