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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.

Political Eyewash?

From Disha Salian to Walmik Karad, the formation of Special Investigation Teams (SITs) under Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ watch rarely delivers substantive outcomes. Despite the significant public interest surrounding cases such as the 2018 Bhima Koregaon clashes (when Fadnavis was Chief minister as well as Home Minister), the promise of justice, be it through SITs or judicial probes, remains largely unfulfilled. Critics argue that these teams, touted as impartial and high-powered, are often used as tools for political expediency rather than vehicles of accountability.


This pattern is all-too familiar and troubling, as it raises the question whether these SITs really designed to uncover the truth, or are they merely a mechanism to placate the public and deflect political pressure? The public’s trust in these investigations has long eroded, as it becomes increasingly evident that SITs are often wielded as political tools rather than independent bodies of inquiry.


At their core, these investigative bodies are meant to instil faith in the justice system and ensure accountability. However, when they are used for political gain, their very purpose is undermined.


In Maharashtra, where political rivalries run deep, the credibility of SITs appears to have taken a serious hit. Under the Fadnavis’ watch, the trend appears to have been even more pronounced. With political motives frequently overshadowing the pursuit of truth, these investigations have increasingly come under suspicion as mere exercises in optics.


Under Fadnavis’ tenure, the formation of SITs has increasingly been seen as a tactical move. The probe into the death of Disha Salian, once manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, is a case in point. Critics argue that Fadnavis, then Deputy Chief Minister, had set up the SIT in December 2023, the delay in resolution and the lack of closure indicate that the Mahayuti government had far more interest in the political capital to be gained, especially by insinuating Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray’s involvement in the case, than in genuinely solving it. If, as BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leaders were claiming, Thackeray was indeed involved, then what explains the delay in putting forth results of the SIT probe?


With little transparency and no definitive conclusions, such SITs have merely served as a distraction, reinforcing suspicions that the investigation was set up as a political move rather than a legitimate search for truth.


Now, in response to public outrage and political brouhaha over the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed, another SIT has been formed. The prime accused Walmik Karad, a close aide of NCP cabinet minister Dhananjay Munde, is a powerful local figure. And yet, key suspects remain at large as the investigation founders amid political posturing.


To avoid the accusation of SITs being political eyewash, Fadnavis must ensure these teams are free to investigate without political interference, prioritizing justice over political gain. Otherwise, the public will continue to view them as mere optics.

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