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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.

Grave Crisis

Updated: Mar 20, 2025

The violence in Nagpur over Aurangzeb’s tomb is an alarming sign of Maharashtra’s deteriorating law and order. A protest by right-wing groups seeking the removal of the Mughal emperor’s tomb descended into chaos, triggering communal riots that left dozens of police officers injured, vehicles torched and entire neighbourhoods in fear. That a mere rumour of desecration of a holy book could inflame passions to such an extent raises grave concerns about the state’s ability to contain mob violence. CM Devendra Fadnavis must take decisive action to restore public order before Maharashtra slides into anarchy.


A demonstration by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists in the Mahal area involved burning an effigy of Aurangzeb. Within hours, social media was flooded with unverified claims of a holy book’s desecration, sending thousands onto the streets in a frenzy. By nightfall, Nagpur was ablaze with arson and vandalism. The speed with which events escalated underscores the state’s failure to anticipate and neutralize such threats.


Police forces, caught napping, struggled to contain the violence, relying on lathi charges and tear gas to disperse rioters. Given that the Shiv Jayanti celebrations and the tomb protest occurred on the same day, authorities should have anticipated the potential for unrest. BJP leaders have claimed the violence was premeditated.


In recent months, Maharashtra has witnessed a disturbing pattern of lawless incidents, from the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh to casteist violence in Beed to the rape of a woman in a bus stationed at Pune.


The government’s inability to curb misinformation and hold provocateurs accountable has emboldened extremists on both sides. The Maharashtra Police’s cyber wing is now investigating over 100 social media accounts suspected of spreading incendiary content, but damage control after the fact is hardly a substitute for pre-emptive governance.


The reaction from political leaders has been underwhelming. CM Fadnavis said the Mahayuti is committed to protecting Aurangzeb’s tomb as it is an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-designated site, but has insisted that its ‘glorification’ will not be tolerated.


Few symbols are as potent in Maharashtra’s politics as Aurangzeb’s legacy. The Mughal emperor who murdered Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj is a historical villain in the state’s nationalist imagination. But the Mughal’s tomb has been here for more than centuries. So, it is not history that is driving violence today rather the state government’s inability to maintain order. Allowing the state’s governance to be dictated by street-level provocateurs, be they from right-wing Hindu groups or radical Islamist factions, sets a dangerous precedent. Political leaders must rise above identity-based posturing and focus on restoring order.


The buck stops with CM Fadnavis. The government must abandon the performative rhetoric and get their act together. That means deploying a more robust intelligence apparatus, cracking down on those who incite violence regardless of their ideological leanings and ensuring that the rule of law prevails over mob justice. The state cannot afford to let Nagpur’s flames spread any further.

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