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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 Rauts Riding High

Rauts

You can admire him or you can hate him but it’s hard to ignore Sanjay Raut. Always in the news for his scathing criticism of the opponents, especially the BJP, he has fashioned himself on the lines of Bal Thackeray—fiery editorials, brash language and controversial statements. His younger His younger brother Sunil entered the state legislative assembly in 2014 from Vikroli and is the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s candidate for the upcoming polls.


Sanjay dons multiple key roles in the Shiv Sena (UBT). The editor of Saamna, the party mouthpiece and a four term Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay is famous for his scathing attacks on the opposition—verbally and in writing. His easy-to-read style of writing as a journalist makes his editorials a hit among the Shiv Sainiks as well as non-Sena followers. He loves to be in the news with his sharp-tongued criticism of the BJP and is the most vocal and visible leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT). When the Thackerays do not want to respond, it is Sanjay who leads the charge.


He is supposed to have led the party’s bold decision to break away from the BJP in 2019 and try an experiment with the Congress and the NCP. He wanted his party boss, Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. His warm relations with Sharad Pawar seem to have helped in the negotiations and the first MVA government was formed. While he may be credited with getting a Thackeray in the CM’s chair, he was also the man to be blamed with Eknath Shinde walked out with several legislators. They all blamed him for “ruining the party”, for surrounding Thackeray with only a close coterie. He’s even produced and written the biopic on Thackeray. Sanjay’s rise has been meteoric; he began his career in the circulation department of a leading media house and aspired to edit the paper some day. Inspired by Bal Thackeray’s editorials and his brand of fiery politics, he joined Saamna and the Shiv Sena and emulated the senior Thackeray’s style.


Sanjay has often courted controversy often for his politically incorrect and inflammatory statements. In the past, he has demanded that the voting rights for Muslims should be suspended for a period of time to avoid the community’s misuse as a ‘vote-bank’. In 2022, he served a prison term for his alleged role in the ‘Patra Chawl’ scam where he is accused of having taking kickbacks from Pravin Raut, the main accused in the Rs 60,000 crore scam. After Shinde split the Sena, Raut was seen on television frequently accusing the MLAs of being ‘gaddars’ and make unfavourable remarks on the people who left.

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