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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.

The Original Shiv Sainiks

Shiv Sainik

In the Marathi-majority area of Kherwadi in Bandra East, Shrikant Sarmalkar was the quintessential Shiv Sainik—a fiery street fighter who had participated in various morchas, was allegedly involved the violence that erupted in Mumbai during the 1992 riots and was the man who carried bullets in his body. He died in January this year following a prolonged illness which kept him away from the political spotlight for several years. His legacy is being claimed by two parts of his family—nephew Kunal Sarmalkar and son-in-law Hari Shastri, albeit on two sides of the Shiv Sena. Just like the Shiv Sena was split, the Sarmalkar family has also seen a political split, right in the backyard of Uddhav Thackeray’s home.


Sarmalkar’s brother’s son, Kunal, went with Shinde and is contesting the assembly elections from Bandra East, offering quite a challenge to Thackeray’s nephew Varun Sardesai. For the past few years, Kunal has been a widely visible face in the area, organising sports tournaments, funding Ganpati mandal celebrations especially in the areas of the Marathi-dominated Government Colony and Kherwadi. His wife Pallavi lends him able support by organising social and cultural events with women, adding soft power to his efforts at an electoral debut. On the other side of the family is Sarmalkar’s son-in-law Hari Shastri, an advocate by education who stayed back with the Thackeray faction.


Sarmalkar had participated in several street agitations that the Shiv Sena was famous for during Bal Thackeray’s times. He was among those who led the ‘chaddi morcha’ who protested outside the house of actor Dilip Kumar who was advocating the screening of the film, Fire, which showed same-sex relationships. The topic was taboo for the Shiv Sena at that time. Sarmalkar became a corporator in the municipal corporation in 1985 and continued to be in the BMC until 1992. In 1996, he contested the by-elections to the state legislature and won but lost the polls after that. The MLA from Kherwadi was popular for being accessible to the people and was recognised as the man who drove cars in Thackeray senior’s convoy and even provided him security. Back then, Thackeray took pride in saying that his ‘sainiks’ provided him with security. In 1987, Sarmalkar was shot by unknown assailants and while a few bullets were removed from his body, there was a bullet that stayed inside him. He quit the Shiv Sena with Narayan Rane in 2005 but returned to be with Uddhav Thackeray in 2011.


The Gen Next of the family is now working with both sections of the Shiv Sena in an attempt to claim the goodwill he enjoyed over the years.

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