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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.

Fearing loss of face Ajit sticks to Baramati

Updated: Oct 25, 2024

Baramati

Mumbai: Ending speculations over his shifting out of family bastion, Baramati Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Ajit Pawar on Wednesday announced that he will continue from his traditional seat in the Assembly election.


Pawar released the first list of 38 NCP candidates.


It was speculated that Pawar may shift to Ambegaon since Baramati was no longer a safe seat for him. His wife Sunetra, who lost the Lok Sabha election, was trailing in Baramati Assembly segment by more than 60,000 votes. That was an alarming bell for Pawar.


“If he had shifted from Baramati that would have sent a wrong message to his supporters across the state,” a senior NCP leader said. “Remember, Ajit dada had won with highest margin in the state in 2019 elections from Baramati only. He moving out the base would definitely had affected the party workers’ morale.”


No surprises

The announcement of the first list of the candidates was made by NCP’s Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare. The list of 38 candidates comprises sitting MLAs who shifted their allegiance to Ajit Pawar during the split in the NCP. All nine ministers currently serving in the Mahayuti government have been given the tickets.


Chhagan Bhujbal from Yeola, Dilip Walse Patil from Ambegaon, Dhananjay Munde from Parli, Hasan Mushrif from Kagal, Dharmrao Atram from Aheri, Aditi Tatkare from Shrivardhan, Anil Patil from Amalner, and Sanjay Bansode from Udgir. Deputy Speaker of state assembly Narhari Zirwal has been fielded from Dindori.


Former Congress MLAs who joined the NCP recently were also named in the list, including a ticket to Hiraman Khoskar from Igatpuri and Shulbha Khodke from Amravati. Both of them are former Congress MLAs who joined the NCP (Ajit Pawar) recently. Khodke was expelled from the Congress on October 12 this year. Khoskar joined the party on the night of October 14. The list also includes BJP leader and former minister Rajkumar Badole, who joined the party a couple of days before. Badole will contest from the Arjuni-Morgaon assembly constituency in Gondia district.


Nevertheless, absent from the first list are candidates for any of Mumbai’s 36 seats. Senior NCP leader Nawab Malik, who is considering running from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, and his daughter Sana Malik, a potential candidate for the Anushakti Nagar seat, were not included in the first list. In Mumbra-Kalwa constituency Najeeb Mulla will be the party’s candidate. He will take on NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad who is sitting MLA from this constituency.


This election is a bigger challenge for Ajit Pawar faction to overcome the setback it faced in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Contesting four of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats earlier this year, the NCP could only win one.

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