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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.

NCP (SP) likely to struggle to keep flock together

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

Heavyweight leaders who joined the party on the eve of the polls might start getting impatient soon

NCP

Mumbai: The sparkling showing at the Lok Sabha polls catapulted the NCP (SP) into the league of one of the most sought-after parties in the state. More than 20 senior leaders were welcomed into the fold, some invited by the party and other, wanting a safe seat after indications that they may be denied a nomination from the respective parties. Some of the most prominent among them are Harshvardhan Patil, Sandeep Naik and Samarjeet Ghatge. All are influential politicians who carry political heft. The party was banking on them to win their constituencies effortlessly. Surprisingly, all three lost. Keeping them with a routed and splintered party will be a challenge for Sharad Pawar.


Of these three, Patil and Ghatge began their electoral careers as independent candidates, moving into parties later. With their own fiefdoms and cadre in place, they are less reliant on the party structure and workers. Patil, for instance, was elected to the state assembly for three terms as an Independent and joined the Congress only later. He quit the Congress to join the BJP and then moved to the NCP (SP) on the eve of the polls. The party had hoped to capitalise on Patil’s hold over cooperatives in Indapur given his years of experience and his tenure as a minister for cooperatives. Similar is the case of Ghatge, who made a mark in politics without any party’s support system. Hailing from an erstwhile noble family with huge land reserves and businesses that employ a few hundreds, Ghatge inherited considerable influence in Kagal from his father. The BJP, who didn’t have a strong face in the area, had inducted him and given him a position of power. In a grand gathering, he joined Pawar’s party earlier this year with an eye on a nomination from Kagal. But they lost. With Naik, he effortlessly moved across parties without batting an eyelid.


Ideology and loyalty to a party have taken a backseat in recent times. As a member of the NCP (SP) says: “These are opportunistic inductions from both sides. We saw winnability in them and they saw an opportunity especially after the Lok Sabha polls. Keeping them in the party will be a challenge especially since their own local influence outweighs the party’s spread in that area.” Interestingly, all three big leaders have left the winning side to join the NCP (SP); all three were in the BJP. As they see their former colleagues get ministerial portfolios or plum positions in state boards, it might be difficult to keep them back. “The future of the NCP (SP) is currently hanging in balance; we don’t have a roadmap for re-building the party right now. It will take us time to analyse this defeat and plan the way ahead. We don’t know how many of these leaders will continue to be with us,” says a senior party member.


The exodus may not happen immediately for fear of getting a tag of being opportunistic. But with elections to local bodies likely to be held in the coming months, their next move will be worth watching.

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