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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 Party Spoiler

Updated: Nov 7, 2024

Nawab Malik

Nawab Malik is contesting as an official candidate of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from the Shivajinagar-Mankhurd assembly constituency. However, he is not the official candidate of the Mahayuti of which the NCP is a part. The other two alliance partners have even opposed Malik and made it clear that they won’t campaign for him. This has raised questions as to why is he contesting from the seat?


Mankhurd-Shivajinagar seat has gone to the Shiv Sena under Cm Eknath Shinde and the party has fielded one Suresh Krishna Patil aka Bullet Patil as its candidate from the seat. Also, traditionally this constituency doesn’t belong to Nawab Malik. He had always been contesting the Kurla constituency. Moreover, the BJP and the Shiv Sena are openly opposing Malik accusing him of having connections with fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim and hence have said that they won’t campaign for him. Malik was jailed over these allegations and that also is the reason why he wasn’t been officially accepted by the NCP under DCM Ajit Pawar even after his release. This raises another question as to why Ajit Pawar, who didn’t dare to accept Malik as a party member went ahead to declare him as an official candidate of the party at the very last moment?


On this backdrop, people have started doubting Malik’s intentions to contest election from this constituency. Whether he will prove to be a vote getter or a vote splitter, is the real question people wasn’t to ask.


Born on June 20, 1959, in Dhuswa village of Uttar Pradesh Nawab Malik moved to Mumbai with his family in the 1970s. His father was involved in the rag business, which Malik later joined before venturing into politics. His political journey began in 1979 when he participated in a city-wide student protest against a fee hike at Mumbai University. Initially he was part of the Congress but later moved to the Samajwadi Party, where he won a by-election and served as a minister in the Congress-NCP alliance government in 1999. In 2004, Malik joined the NCP due to differences with Abu Azmi and was appointed as a Minister of State. Since then, he has held various ministerial positions.


Malik sported several controversies around him and always posed as the savior of minorities. After the arrest of Shahrukh Kahn’s son Aryan, Malik was very critical of the Narcotics Control Bureau and the union government. This was the biggest clash point between him and the BJP. Finally, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in February 2022, in connection with an alleged money laundering case. After securing bail from the SC on health grounds, he is currently out of the jail.

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