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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.

Feel it and Smell it

Updated: Jan 6, 2025

Feel it and Smell it

Dear readers,


Wish you all a happy and prosperous new year!


Llast week my article gave you a basic protocol of how to set up your own compost bin in your house. Here are some more tips. Once your bucket is ready, you will have to wait for a couple of weeks-ideally for 21 days- at the most.


Those tiny little invisible wonderful microorganisms namely decomposing bacteria need that much time for getting acclimatized and for getting activated. So, we should have patience. However, every few days, use a rake to give the pile a quick turn to provide aeration. If you think the pile is too dry, sprinkle some water so that it retains enough moisture. After 21 days are over, you must be very eager now to look inside your magic bin! Don’t restrain yourself.. Go ahead.. Remove the lid.. Look inside.. Oops…Remember?


On day 1, you had added all greens and reds and yellows and what not! Now all you see is the black granulated material inside..Now take a handful of this material. Feel it .. Does it feel like tea powder? If yes. You are the winner… Now smell it… you might get startled and would look around thinking that rain is falling. because you get an earthy smell of that crumbly granular material in your hand which is similar to the scent you get when the first raindrops hit the soil! Time to celebrate!!!


Now you can start adding the wasted, cooked, stale or foul-smelling food also. (But ideally, you should not waste the food at all. By doing so, you are wasting many precious resources) With time and a little patience, composting will become second nature to you. What has happened here is that, the process of biodegradation has taken place under more controlled conditions and we have not left the waste just to rot in hopes that it will turn into nutrient-rich compost.


Basic science of composting: The compost process requires oxygen to be effective, because the organisms involved are mainly AEROBIC, meaning they require oxygen to live -just as we, humans require oxygen to live- and therefore to break down substances. These organisms consume and use up the organic material for energy (carbon), to build proteins (nitrogen), and for other cellular processes (phosphorus, Sulphur, etc.), and in doing so break down complex organic structures, such as plants and feces, into their more basic elements. During this process they produce the humic-like compost we desire, as well as CO2, heat, and water vapor.


However, some ANAEROBIC fermentation—biodegradation without oxygen—is also required in the compost process, especially to break down more durable plant structures, such as lignin (the complex structure that makes up the secondary cell wall of plants and helps them to stay rigid).


However, most of the decomposition must remain aerobic for efficient, rapid composting with minimal odor production. There are thousands of tiny organisms that are involved in the compost process, including fungi, microbes, actinomycetes (a unique type of bacteria that look like fungi), and invertebrates. The use of earthworms to enhance the compost process is called “vermicomposting.” More about this little science of composting in my next article. Till then, have a good weekend!!


(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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