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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.

Parli’s Political Powder Keg

Munde

Come November 20, Maharashtra’s Parli constituency in Beed has become a rural microcosm for the heightened caste tensions in the Marathwada region. Long known as a stronghold of the Munde clan, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s Dhananjay Munde, who is the ruling Mahayuti’s candidate, is gearing up for a fiercely contested election where Maratha and OBC sentiments are set to clash in the wake of the Maratha quota agitation.


The ‘Jarange factor’ (after Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil) is poised to expose the undercurrents of caste politics in a region traditionally dominated by the BJP, particularly owing to the influence and legacy of late stalwart BJP leader Gopinath Munde.


For the BJP and the Mahayuti, the narrow defeat of their candidate Pankaja Munde in the Beed Lok Sabha constituency (of which Parli is part) battle earlier this year, was a major blow, with the Maratha sentiment playing a crucial role in her loss to Bajrang Sonawane of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).


Pankaja had secured victories in Parli in both the 2009 and 2014 elections but fell short of a hat-trick in 2019, when her cousin Dhananjay Munde defeated her by over 30,000 votes. Over the past five years, the sibling rivalry has been set aside, with the duo mending their differences.


While Munde was later rehabilitated as an MLC, her cousin Dhananjay is up against the NCP (SP)’s strategic nominee, Rajesaheb Deshmukh. The canny Sharad Pawar, to capitalize on the caste schism, has fielded Deshmukh – a Maratha – against Munde, a Vanjari OBC leader.


Dhananjay, however, downplays the intensity of the Maratha sentiments, suggesting that the agitation under Jarange-Patil has now waned, though political observers remain sceptical. Earlier this month, Jarange-Patil, who had threatened to field his candidates from the Maratha community, had, in a surprise announcement, done a volte face, stating he was taking back his announcement.


The NCP (SP)’s fielding of Deshmukh, picked by Sharad Pawar, underscores not just the narrative of Maratha identity politics but of Pawar senior’s Machiavellian moves to counter Ajit Pawar’s top aides (among whom Dhananjay is counted as such).


In an unabashedly populist announcement, Deshmukh has promised to arrange marriages for bachelors in Parli if elected, highlighting the struggle of rural men to find brides due to lack of employment opportunities. Deshmukh criticized his rival Dhananjay Munde for failing to bring industries to the area, which he argued has worsened the situation for local youth seeking jobs and marriage prospects.


Meanwhile, seasoned NCP leader Prakash Solanke, who announced his ‘retirement’ from active politics just months ago, has re-entered the fray in neighbouring Majalgaon.


In October last year, a violent mob had pelted stones and torched Solanke’s home after the Maratha quota agitation under Jarange-Patil had taken a turn for the worse.


With several Maratha candidates to contest against Solanke in Majalgaon, the upcoming election will hinge around identity politics rather than about governance.


As for Parli, the balance of power will hinge on how effectively Dhananjay Munde can navigate the simmering discontent among Marathas and the OBC community’s concerns.

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