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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.

Under Fire from Every Sector

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Under Fire

The 2024 Assembly election is going to be all about Devendra Fadnavis. He is the most popular target and everybody in the opposition seems to love to be gunning for him. Just as the election schedule was announced by the election commission, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil roared that the Maratha community should not stay clam without decimating Fadnavis.


After the murder of NCP MLA Baba Siddique, the Opposition has accused Fadnavis of failing as home minister and not being able to handle law and order situation. They also demanded his resignation. He was also attacked for delays in investigation of the Badlapur sexual assault case, the killing of the Badlapur accused in an alleged police encounter, the firing in an Ulhasnagar police station, the cases of sexual assaults in Pune and other places, among others.


However, none of these attacks seem to have deterred Fadnavis. In fact, as a gesture to have accepted the challenge, the state BJP has started with publicity campaign giving credit of development work in the state to Fadnavis and build his image as a mass-leader who is loved because he toiled for the masses.


Fadnavis became the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra in October 2014. Born in 1970, he was not new to the field of politics. He started his political career at a young age and quickly worked his way up through the ranks of the BJP, serving in various roles within the party, including the president of the Maharashtra BJP from 2013 to 2014. Under Fadnavis’ leadership, the BJP won 123 of the State Assembly’s total 288 seats even though it had then fought the polls alone since its alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had broken following their differences on the seat-sharing formula. This was the BJP’s highest tally in the Assembly.


However, as Chief Minister, he faced numerous challenges, from within the part as well as from outside. However, he focused on addressing key issues such as agriculture, infrastructure, urban development, and social welfare.


After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Fadnavis served as the Leader of the Opposition in the state legislature, continuing to play a vital role in Maharashtra’s politics. His astute political strategies and effective articulation of the party’s positions earned him respect within the BJP.


A senior journalist associated with the RSS had told me after Fadnavis became the CM, that if he could complete three years as CM, he will emerge as an unstoppable force. The words seem to be coming true now.

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