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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 PDS Puzzle

Updated: Nov 7, 2024

PDS Puzzle

The Public Distribution System (PDS) in Maharashtra provides food security needs to the citizens of the state by making sure the essential commodities are available at a subsidized price. The PDS has been criticised for its failure to serve the poorer sections of the population effectively. The targeted PDS is meant for extricating the poor from the clutches of hunger however, looking at the present status the system is giving rise to the corruption depriving the needy.


The Public Distribution system (PDS) includes procurement, storage, transportation and distribution of food grains at subsidised prices to implement National Food security Act. The department of food, civil supplies and consumer protection of the government of Maharashtra are responsible for the implementation of the Public Distribution System in the state. But truly speaking due to rampant corruption the entire system itself landed in doldrums. The PDS is in danger of being totally derailed not only in Maharashtra but several States across the country. Recent disruptions of the PDS have taken different forms, from compulsory biometric authentication to so-called direct benefit transfer (DBT). The consequences are alarming, marching towards starvation but tend to go unreported.


Major obstacles in this system are the leakages, in other words theft of the food grains. This particular aspect remained unacceptably high starting from 30 percent to around 50 percent leakage. Significantly, the government has claimed that there is strong evidence of declining leakages in recent times due to the state having undertaken serious PDS reforms. There might be some decline in the leakages as the government says, but the fact remains that supply of food grains is still interrupted in most of the parts especially in rural areas. The officials have pointed finger towards the APL quota as the biggest source of continuing leakages.


The PDS has been one of the main policy instruments of the government of India to provide food security to the people of this country, especially the vulnerable ones. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, also relies heavily on it to deliver even more grain at highly subsidized prices to 67 percent of the population. But the existing PDS system has been highly “leaky”, with large amounts of grains (40 to 50 percent) being pilfered and diverted to the open market. Also, the existing PDS delivers better in a very small vicinity of the state. At the same time those where there is concentration of poor, raising issues of equity PDS delivery is worst. The percent share of total leakage increased with states where greater percent of India’s poor resided.


The implementation of the National Food Security Act is an important opportunity to phase out this leaky quota and complete the process of PDS reform across the country. It plays an important role in ensuring food security, alleviation of poverty and fulfilling the nourishment needs of the population. Over the years, the Public Distribution System has become an important part of the government in outlining the state policies for the management and food security of the country.

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