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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.

Sugar Daddy’s Bitter Fight

Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil

Ahilyanagar (erstwhile Ahmednagar) is the largest district of Maharashtra area-wise. It sends 12 MLAs to the state assembly and hence political parties in the state always struggle to control this district. Since past few years, the current revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil who has won the Shirdi assembly constituency in the district for past seven times and is preparing for the eighth consecutive victory, has been undisputedly controlling the district.


Members of the Vikhe-Patil family, whose interests go beyond politics, have been part of almost all major parties in the last 70 years. The biggest contribution of the family in Maharashtra has been its role in setting up Asia’s first cooperative sugar mill in Ahmednagar right after independence by late Vitthalrao Vikhe-Patil under the guidance of then Congress stalwart Dhananjay Gadgil. It changed the rural economy and introduction of sugarcane as a cash crop contributed to uplift of people in villages and towns in several parts of Maharashtra.


Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil is the grandson of Vitthalrao Vikhe-Patil. Born on June 15, 1959, he began his political career as the district head of the Youth Congress in 1986. He won his first assembly election in 1994 from Shirdi on the Congress ticket. However, after his father left the party and joined Shiv Sena, Radhakrishna too resigned from post and quit the party. He won with a thumping majority in the by-polls and became minister for entrepreneurship and rehabilitation departments. He returned to the Congress in 2004 and was minister of School Education, Transport, Ports, Law and Judiciary, Agriculture, FDA and Marathi language, under different Chief Ministers Between 2008 and 2014. In 2014 he became the leader of opposition of the state assembly. In 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha election, his son Dr. Sujay joined the BJP leaving little chance for Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil but to follow him. He was entrusted with the responsibility of Housing department by the then CM Devendra Fadnavis. In 2022, Vikhe-Patil became the revenue minister under Eknath Shinde.


Throughout his career, Vikhe-Patil has been known for his focus on issues related to agriculture, rural development, and infrastructure. As minister for Agriculture, he implemented several initiatives aimed at improving the lives of farmers and boosting the state’s agricultural output, while as minister for School education he brought in schemes for improving educational infrastructure across the state. As transport minister he brought in smart ticketing system, initiated computerization of reservations and booking system. His tenure in the role of Agriculture minister was also marked by efforts to modernize agricultural practices, enhance market access for farmers, and address issues such as water scarcity and crop insurance.

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