top of page

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.

Fugitive Justice

After years on the run, Mehul Choksi, the diamond dealer-turned-fugitive at the heart of one of India’s most egregious banking scandals, has been arrested in Belgium. The 65-year-old is a key accused in the Rs. 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case that rocked India’s financial system in 2018. His arrest is a rare diplomatic success for Indian authorities in a saga marked by financial chicanery, sluggish extradition battles and gaping regulatory failures.


Choksi had been conveniently living in Antigua and Barbuda as a citizen since 2018 after fleeing India. His arrival in Belgium last year, reportedly for cancer treatment, had attracted little public attention until now. That his wife holds Belgian citizenship may have eased his travel, but not his fate. India has wasted no time with both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) pressing for his extradition.


The task is not impossible. India has a functioning extradition treaty with Belgium, dating back to 1901. The treaty operates on the principle of ‘dual criminality,’ which is that a person can be extradited if the alleged offence is punishable in both countries. Financial fraud, of course, qualifies. But success is far from guaranteed.


India’s recent track record in pursuing high-profile economic offenders has been dismal. Nirav Modi, Choksi’s nephew and a co-accused in the PNB scam, has fought a protracted legal battle against extradition from the United Kingdom, where he has remained since 2018. Vijay Mallya, the former Kingfisher Airlines boss accused of defaulting on loans and money laundering, continues to stall his return despite an extradition order. In both cases, India has been ensnared by the procedural thickets of British courts, and by arguments about prison conditions, political persecution and judicial independence.


Belgium’s treaty has similar escape valves. It bars extradition in cases deemed political or if the accused can argue persecution. Choksi has previously claimed that he is the target of a politically motivated witch-hunt, a narrative he used when he mysteriously vanished from Antigua in 2021 and ended up in Dominica, alleging he had been abducted.


This time, Indian authorities must build an airtight case and ensure his prosecution stands up to judicial scrutiny abroad. But even if Choksi returns to face trial, justice must go further. The alleged fraud was colossal: Choksi is accused of siphoning over Rs. 6,000 crore and Nirav Modi another Rs. 7,000 crore. Today, the realisable value of Choksi’s assets stands closer to Rs. 2,500 crore.


Beyond extradition, what is needed is restitution. The defrauded sums must be returned to their rightful owners, public sector banks and, by extension, Indian taxpayers. That means faster trials, sharper asset recovery mechanisms and more transparency about where the money goes. It also means plugging the regulatory holes that allowed such frauds to flourish in the first place. Justice will only be served when not just the fugitives, but the system that enabled them, is held to account.

Comments

bottom of page