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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.

Luxury Politics

Updated: Feb 25, 2025

In Indian politics, loyalty is often rewarded with patronage. But if recent allegations against Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) hold any merit, it seems that under his leadership, political positions were awarded not merely in exchange for allegiance, but for luxury cars. At the 98th All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Neelam Gorhe, a senior leader in the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council, dropped a bombshell: to secure a post in Thackeray’s party, one had to hand over two Mercedes cars.


The accusations, made in open forum, have cast a long shadow over the credibility of Thackeray’s leadership. According to Gorhe, the rot set in after Balasaheb Thackeray’s death in 2012. The Shiv Sena allegedly became an exclusive club under his son Uddhav.


Predictably, Thackeray’s loyalists have dismissed the allegations. Sanjay Raut, the party’s chief spokesperson, resorted to sarcasm, suggesting that if Gorhe had been made an MLC four times, she must have handed over eight Mercedes’. The allegations fit into a larger pattern of concerns regarding Thackeray’s leadership. His tenure as Chief Minister was marked by accusations of insularity, a governance style that seemed to favour those within his immediate circle rather than the rank-and-file Sainiks who had long fought for the party. The perception of a cloistered leader, more comfortable in the drawing rooms of ‘Matoshree’ than in the rough and tumble of Maharashtra’s politics, contributed to his eventual downfall in 2022, when Eknath Shinde led a successful rebellion, splitting the party in two.


More troubling still are the lingering questions surrounding the Thackeray family’s financial dealings. Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has alleged that Rashmi Thackeray, Uddhav’s wife, along with the wife of Shiv Sena legislator Ravindra Waikar, purchased 19 houses in Alibag’s Korlai village - properties that were kept out of Thackeray’s election affidavit.


While corruption is hardly new to Maharashtra politics – the Congress, the NCP and even the BJP have had their share of scandals - what stands out in this case is the sheer entitlement embedded in Thackeray’s leadership style. He presented himself as an urbane, media-friendly leader, but his alleged inaccessibility and these allegations suggest otherwise.


It is telling that Gorhe’s allegations surfaced only after she switched loyalties to Eknath Shinde’s faction in 2023. Her decision to speak out now raises questions about timing and intent. Nevertheless, the fact remains that her claims resonate with the grievances aired by several other leaders who felt sidelined under Uddhav’s leadership.


When parties become family-run enterprises, decision-making is often arbitrary, with personal loyalty prioritized over competence. This erodes internal democracy and fosters a culture where access to power depends not on merit, but on wealth and connections. If Uddhav Thackeray wants to reclaim lost ground, he must do more than offer sarcastic rebuttals. For a leader struggling for political relevance, credibility is not a luxury he can afford to lose.

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