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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.

Jarange’s decision harmful for MVA

Updated: Nov 7, 2024

Jarange

Mumbai: Diwali is barely over but the fireworks are still exploding in the political arena. On the last day of withdrawing nominations for the upcoming elections, Manoj Jarange-Patil announced that he wouldn’t field any candidates for the polls. This was hours after he “vowed revenge” against the Mahayuti alliance. Only a day earlier on Sunday, he had claimed to back 25 candidates across the state. The BJP and Shiv Sena are heaving a sigh of relief especially for its candidates contesting from Marathwada, the epicentre of the quota protests and other constituencies with a sizeable Maratha population. But the real cheer, say political watchers, is in the MVA especially the NCP (SP).


Party insiders say that when minister Uday Samant and the chief minister’s personal assistant held a midnight meeting with Manoj Jarange-Patil at Antarvali- Saraati, a few days before Diwali, it is believed that the duo was tasked with convincing the Maratha quota activist to name candidates wherever he wanted. The Mahayuti would unconditionally back those. These candidates would be used to hurt the chances of the MVA candidates. It would have been a coup had he accepted. Incidentally, the NCP (SP) has nominated candidates from several seats in Marathwada with a special emphasis on the region.


Jarange-Patil’s withdrawal announcement met with a sharp rebuke from Laxman Hate who mocked him by saying that “calls from Baramati” were responsible for the change of heart. But the decision is likely to, indeed, benefit the NCP (SP) apart from other members of the MVA. While Jarange-Patil claimed that he couldn’t get the support of Muslims and Dalits and didn’t want to back only Maratha candidates, the real reasons are different.


In Parli which falls in Beed, which is the heartland of the protests, the NCP (SP) has played the Maratha card well by fielding Rajesahe Deshmukh against Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde. The seat is seeing friction between Marathas and OBCs and Jarange-Patil’s decision will help consolidate the Maratha vote in favour of Deshmukh. Similarly, in Majalgaon in the same district, Mohan Jagtap will now not have to contend with the Maratha votes breaking up in favour of a candidate backed by Jarange-Patil. A few days ago, the activist had vowed by put up candidates in Daund and Parvati, one held by the BJP and the other by the NCP (SP).


Marathas constitute 30 to 33 per cent of the electorate in Maharashtra. The MVA expects to win the Maratha vote in most constituencies while the OBCs have traditionally shown more faith in the BJP ever since Gopinath Munde, an OBC leader, rose up the party’s ranks.


Last week, Samarjeet Ghatge, the NCP (SP)’s pick from Kagal had also met Jarange-Patil to seek his cooperation and support considering that Kagal also has a sizeable Maratha population. A candidate backed by Jarange-Patil would have eaten into Ghatge’s voteshare. The eal agenda of the meeting also apparently involved a plea by Ghatge for Jarange-Patil not to put up candidates that would upset the MVA’s chances with caste mathematics. Ghatge was supposedly selected for the job given his family’s relationship with Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, the erstwhile royal who is highly respected for working towards equality for all castes.


At present, Jarange-Patil is one public persona in Maharashtra who no party wants to be on the wrong side of. Given the massive following that he enjoys among the community, all political parties and candidates are seeking his support. The announcement that all parties were waiting for will relieve the pressures of the Mahayuti in a few constituencies but is likely to benefit the NCP (SP) the most.

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