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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.

Internal Strife, Tribal Discontent in North Maharashtra

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

North Maharashtra

With barely a month to go for the Maharashtra Assembly election, the Mahayuti coalition, particularly the BJP, is grappling with a confluence of challenges that threaten its electoral prospects in north Maharashtra.


The perennial rivalry between veteran politician Eknath Khadse on the one hand, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his confidante, Girish Mahajan on the other, is emblematic of these problems.


Following Khadse’s departure from the BJP in 2020 to join Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), he has publicly declared that his return to the BJP is now a “closed option” due to what he describes as systematic humiliation at the hands of state party leaders.


Despite campaigning for his daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse during the Lok Sabha election, Khadse’s homecoming has been thwarted by internal opposition from Fadnavis and state minister Girish Mahajan.


The rivalry between Khadse and Mahajan epitomizes the personal stakes involved in the coming struggle. Both hail from Jalgaon, and their competition for dominance in the region has long been a source of ongoing strife. With daughter Rohini, who head the women’s wing in the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), actively seeking a ticket for the Muktainagar assembly seat, the familial stakes further complicate the narrative even as Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s recent comments attempt to position Khadse as a BJP loyalist.


The BJP’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year serves as a sobering reminder of their challenges in north Maharashtra. The MVA secured six of the eight seats in a region that had previously backed the BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena for over a decade. The Mahayuti coalition had managed to hold onto only two seats in Jalgaon district.


The discontent among tribal voters poses another significant hurdle as this demographic has leaned toward the opposition MVA during the recent Lok Sabha election, driven by grievances linked to the Shinde government’s plans to grant tribal status to the Dhangar community - a move perceived as jeopardizing their reservation entitlements.


In a bid to mitigate discontent, the Mahayuti has drastically adjusted its stance on agricultural policies, particularly concerning onion farmers whose discontentment was a major cause in the ruling coalition’s poor show in this region during the Lok Sabha polls. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s public apology to farmers during a rally in Nashik in August reflects an awareness of the critical importance of rural support in the forthcoming elections.


The ruling Shiv Sena under CM Shinde has its own set of challenges here. A cohort of prominent Shiv Sena leaders - Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse and Suhas Kande – who had joined Shinde in his 2022 revolt, will now have to prove their loyalty to their Chief minister and their mettle in securing the region’s critical votes for the Mahayuti.


Gulabrao Patil, the guardian minister for Jalgaon, has projected optimism, asserting that the Mahayuti alliance will make significant gains, claiming it can secure at least 35 seats in the region.


As the Mahayuti warily navigate north Maharashtra’s complex electoral waters, the interplay of community dynamics, policy adjustments and past grievances will prove whether Patil can make good of his boast.

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