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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) suffers from confusion over symbol

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

NCP

Mumbai: Did the confusion over party symbols cost Sharad Pawar’s NCP at least nine Assembly seats. Yes, looking at the votes tally this fact has been underscored.


A man blowing the turha is the election symbol of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). However, the symbol trumpet misled the voters in many constituencies. In Jintur, Ghansavangi, Shahapur, Belapur, Anushakti Nagar, Ambegaon, Parner, Kej and Paranda rival parties smartly fielded independent candidates with the symbol of a trumpet, spreading confusion among rural and illiterate voters in these nine seats in Maharashtra. As a result the rival candidates narrowly escaped forcing the debacle for NCP (SP) candidates.

NCP (SP) candidate Vijay Bhamble lost to Meghana Bordikar of the BJP by 4,516 votes in the Jintur assembly seat, where the unknown independent candidate with the trumpet symbol, surprisingly garnered over 7,430 votes. Similarly this happened with Rajesh Tope in Ghansavangi who lost to Hikmat Udhan of ShivSena (Shinde) 2,309 votes. Independent candidate with a trumpet symbol got 4,830 votes.


Pandurang Barora, Sandeep Naik, Fahad Ahmed, Devdutta Nikam, Rani Lanke, Prithviraj Sathe and Rahul Mote who lost to this symbol trumpet with narrow margin.


Significantly, this is not happening for the first time. Five months ago during the Lok Sabha election the NCP faced the same problem. NCP (SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde lost to BJP candidate Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale by 33,000 votes in the Satara Lok Sabha seat, where the independent candidate Sanjay Gadhe, with the trumpet symbol, surprisingly managed to get over 37,000 votes. The same confusion also significantly reduced the victory margins of NCP (SP) candidates in other constituencies.


The NCP (SP) had appealed to the poll panel to not allot any symbol resembling the party's trumpet symbol to any other party or Independent candidate to avoid confusion among voters. The party got the relief from the Election Commission of India. The Commission barred the usage of the word 'tutari', which is the Marathi translation of trumpet. A man blowing a trumpet (tutari) is the election symbol of the NCP (SP).


The party claimed that it suffered and lost votes in the recent Lok Sabha elections due to the mention of the trumpet symbol as 'tutari'. The Election Commission made it clear that it had agreed to a request by NCP (SP) for prominent display of its poll symbol — man blowing 'turha' — on ballot units of EVMs, but refused to freeze the trumpet symbol.


NCP state president Jayant Patil said, “The candidates who have lost the election due to this trumpet symbol have lodged their complaints with the party. We are seriously thinking over this issue. After the consultations with the legal experts we will decide the further course of action”.

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