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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.

Why Is Opposition Afraid of Rashmi Shukla?

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

Rashmi Shukla

Mumbai: The opposition Congress has questioned IPS officer Rashmi Shukla being reinstated as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra. Shukla was transferred two weeks before the Maharashtra Assembly polls following the Election Commission’s directive after the Congress lead MVA had raised objections over her impartiality.


The state home department formalized her reappointment late Monday, after the election code of conduct ended, and she resumed her duties as the state’s top police officer today. Sanjay Kumar Verma, who served as interim DGP, returned to his original position as DG Legal and Technical. However, the Congress claimed that the EC order had called for Shukla’s permanent removal as DGP.


Shukla, the IPS office from 1988 batch was due to retire in June, was given a two-year tenure as DGP in January this year. The opposition had protested against the state government’s decision even back then. The Congress now demanded that Shukla be asked to retire, arguing that her service extension was specifically for the DGP role and should terminate upon vacating the position. Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole wrote to the EC, stating that any reassignment would be legally impermissible.


Further, Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe also accuse Shukla of meeting DCM Devendra Fadnavis at his official residence on November 23, during the vote counting for the Assembly elections, while the Model Code of Conduct was still in effect.


The Opposition doesn’t want Shukla to be in the post because it claims that Shukla, as head of the State Intelligence Department (SID), tapped the calls of Opposition leaders, including NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, and Nana Patole, while the Fadnavis-led BJP was in power until 2019.


After the MVA came to power in 2019, Shukla was viewed as being close to the BJP government and was transferred to Civil Defence in 2020. In February 2021, she was sent on central deputation as the Additional Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and later as the head of the Sashastra Seema Bal.


Following her departure from Maharashtra, two FIRs were registered against her in February and March 2022 for allegedly tapping the phones of Opposition leaders and leaking information to Fadnavis. After the FIRs were registered, Shukla moved court. The police then registered another FIR in which Shukla was not named as an accused.


After Shinde government came to power in June 2022, the third case was transferred to the CBI. In September 2023, the Bombay High Court quashed two of the three FIRs against her. The third case was also closed after the court accepted the CBI’s closure report, paving the way for her return to the state.


Poll process over, Shukla returns as DGP

Mumbai: Senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla on Tuesday assumed the charge as the Maharashtra DGP, a day after she was reinstated to the post following the conclusion of the state assembly elections.


Shukla paid tributes to martyrs at the Commissioner of Police Office in south Mumbai, an official said.


The order reinstating Shukla as the Director General of Police was issued by the state home department on Monday evening. Shukla was removed from the DGP’s post on the Election Commission of India’s directives ahead of the state assembly elections and sent on compulsory move after Congress complained about her.


Sanjay Kumar Verma had taken over as the state’s top police officer in the absence of Shukla. He was to hold the top post till the election process concluded. With the completion of the electoral process and announcement of election results, the Model Code of Conduct ceased to be in force on Monday, the home department order said.


Consequently, the government has ended Shukla’s period of forced leave and she has been asked to resume her role as DGP, it said.


The BJP-led Mahayuti coalition retained power with a thumping majority in the assembly elections.


An IPS officer of the 1988 batch, Shukla is the first woman to hold the position of Maharashtra DGP. Shukla had earlier served as the commissioner of the State Intelligence Department. She was embroiled in a controversy during the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s tenure when she was named as an accused in an alleged phone tapping case. The Bombay High Court in September 2023 quashed two FIRs registered against Shukla.

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