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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.

Legacy Clash

Legacy Clash

In Indore, a city where the past is never quite forgotten, a recent decision to rename Residency Kothi has sparked an unnecessary and unseemly controversy. The Indore Municipal Corporation’s mayor-in-council has announced that this minor relic of the British era will now be known as “Shivaji Kothi.” What should have been a routine gesture of rechristening has instead opened up a vexatious debate. At the heart of this controversy are two towering figures of Maharashtra’s and India’s history — Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Ahilyabai Holkar — whose legacies deserve more respect than to be dragged into a squabble over a minor colonial structure.


The squabble over the renaming appears not only disproportionate but also tone-deaf. To attach Shivaji’s illustrious name to a small, largely forgotten British relic is to insult the grandeur of a leader who carved out a kingdom from the Mughal empire and left a legacy that echoes across western India. To reduce Shivaji’s immense stature to a plaque on a building that holds minimal cultural or architectural significance is to misunderstand the scale of his contributions.


Opponents of this renaming, notably the Congress Party and local organizations, suggested naming the building after Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, the iconic 18th-century queen who ruled Indore and is remembered for her administrative genius and piety. Holkar’s presence quite literally looms large over Indore. The city’s architecture, temples, and civic sense bear her mark.


Yet, this entire controversy feels needlessly divisive, not least because of the social tensions currently simmering in neighbouring Maharashtra, where the Dhangar-Maratha rift has been festering for some time. Notably, Ahilyabai is venerated by the Dhangars—a shepherd community—for her roots in their lineage, a reverence so strong that even Ahmednagar in Maharashtra was recently renamed ‘Ahilyanagar’ in her honour. This connection adds yet another layer to the discussion, showing that Ahilyabai’s legacy is not just local, but has a wide and cherished following.


So, the real question becomes: why this building, and why this debate? Residency Kothi, though historic, is hardly the sort of structure that merits a titanic struggle over renaming. Shivaji’s legacy is far greater than a small plaque on an old colonial building, and Ahilyabai’s contributions to Indore deserve far more than to be shoehorned into a symbolic contest over such a modest piece of architecture.


If the Indore Municipal Corporation is serious about honouring its historic figures, the solution should be simple: go bigger. If the intent is to truly reflect the city’s heritage, rename the city itself after Ahilyabai Holkar. After all, it was under her rule that Indore flourished into a hub of commerce, culture, and religious significance. Her imprint on the city is so pervasive that it would be far more fitting to have the entire city, not just a minor structure, bear her name. As for Shivaji Maharaj, his monumental contributions demand recognition on a far grander scale befitting a figure of his stature.

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