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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.

Test of the Trouble Shooter

Updated: Nov 12, 2024

Girish Mahajan

Over the past decade Girish Mahajan has come be known as the most trusted aide of Devendra Fadnavis and an ace trouble-shooter for the BJP. He had been an MLA since 1995 and had been active in the politics since much before that. Yet, the meteoric rise of this fitness-freak leader in the state politics over the past decade is mesmarising.


Born in a Marathi Gurjar family, on May 17, 1960, in Jamner of Jalgaon district of North Maharashtra, Girish Dattatray Mahajan first came to political fore as a student activist on the dais of ABVP in 1978. As an active member of the students’ organization, he engaged in grassroots activities, including painting walls and distributing promotional posters. His dedication and leadership skills quickly earned him the position of Taluka President of ABVP.


Mahajan’s formal political journey began in the early 1980s when he became the Taluka President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP. His first significant electoral success came in 1992 when he was elected to the Gram Panchayat of Jamner. This victory marked the beginning of a long and illustrious career in state politics.


In 1995, Mahajan was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the first time, representing the Jamner constituency. He had defeated former MLA Ishwarlal Jain who had a considerable clout over the district politics and hence Mahajan was hailed as a giant killer. He had received an insider’s help from within Jain’s camp and he boasts about it ever since then. After that victory, Mahajan has been re-elected from the constituency multiple times, hoping to continue with the seventh consecutive term as of 2024. His consistent electoral success is a testament to his strong connection with the people of his constituency and his effective leadership.


Within the BJP Eknath Khadse was the prominent state-level leader from the Jalgaon district. Mahajan remained underdog for a long time and after 2014 he got the chance he had been waiting for to carve out a space for himself in the state politics.


Mahajan was appointed as the Minister of Water Resources in the cabinet of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2014 and in 2016, he took the role of Minister of Medical Education. In 2022, under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, he was appointed as the Minister of Rural Development. But, his main role in the state politics remained outside the departments he handled. Under both the chief ministers, he remained a prominent negotiator with the Maratha activists. For Fadnavis he always remained a loyal aide whenever there were troubles within the party also. He gained political power by systematically wiping out the opposition from Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar districts of North Maharashtra and has emerged as an undisputed leader of North Maharashtra.

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