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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.

Passing On The Baton

For this first time since 1995, Katol will see a new face seeking votes from the people. Days after Anil Deshmukh, who has represented the constituency since 1995, was named by the NCP (SP) as its candidate from this Vidarbha seat, the party replaced his nomination with that of his son, Salil. The reasons are best known to the Deshmukh family and the party. Insiders claim that the son’s insistence and desire to make his electoral debut forced Deshmukh to convince his party. But the former home minister claimed that the Mahayuti was finding technical reasons to disqualify his nomination Salil Deshmukh, son of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, is contesting the polls from the constituency that his father has represented for the past three decades. The father-son duo has been campaigning hard in the sweltering October heat. The stakes are high for the family; in 2021, the senior Deshmukh was arrested on charges of corruption and jailed for 13 months. He had to resign earlier following allegations of misusing his position for money laundering.


Deshmukh began his political career in Nagpur as chairman of the Nagpur Zilla Parishad as a Congressman. In 1995, he rebelled against Congress party leadership after he was denied a ticket and contested as an Independent candidate and won. That year, he lent support to the Shiv Sena-BJP government and was made the minister of state for education. When Sharad Pawar launched the NCP in 1999, Deshmukh joined him and held various positions in the government such as the minister for school education, information, sports, public works, excise and civil supplies, among other key departments. In 2014, he lost the legislative assembly elections to his nephew Ashish Deshmukh. Five years later, he returned to the council of ministers when the MVA formed the government and was given charge of the all-important home ministry.


His career saw reforms in education and the setting up of the Maharashtra Bhushan Award but was marred by serious charges of corruption in 2021 when he was forced to resign. Deshmukh stayed with the NCP (SP) during the split in the party affirmed his loyalty to the party. His nomination from Katol in the NCP (SP)’s first list was seen as an affirmation of his party’s faith in him.

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