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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.

With 75 seats, Konkan crucial to tilting power scales

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Mumbai: The serene coastal belt of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, offers an interesting backdrop for a showdown between Mahayuti and MVA alliances in the next month’s assembly elections, especially between two rival Shiv Senas.

The most urbanised and industrial region, including Mumbai metropolitan area, sends 75 MLAs to the assembly and 12 members to Lok Sabha.

Konkan

The coastal Konkan division in Maharashtra, spread from Sindhudurg to Mumbai, also covers Palghar, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts.

Konkan

Voting will be held in all 288 state assembly constituencies on November 20 and results will be declared on November 23.


In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Mahayuti alliance of Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP bagged seven seats in the Konkan region.


The BJP triumphed in Palghar, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Mumbai North, while the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, had a face-saver in Raigad where its leader Sunil Tatkare retained his seat. The Shiv Sena won Thane, Kalyan and Mumbai North West.

Konkan

In the upcoming polls, former Union minister Narayan Rane, who won the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat, is set to play a crucial role for BJP in the Konkan region.


In Thane city, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency, and Worli in Mumbai, where Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray seeks re-election, are poised to be pivotal battlegrounds.

The contest primarily shapes up as a rivalry between Shiv Sena factions, raising the stakes significantly.

Urban issues are at the forefront, with housing, urban poverty and infrastructure challenges dominating discussions as the region copes with rapid population growth.


The Congress’ influence has waned over the years, particularly in Mumbai, where it has ceded ground to Shiv Sena (UBT) within the MVA.


The upcoming assembly elections present a complex political landscape, marked by rivalries and shifting alliances.


The state’s electoral map also includes the districts of Vidarbha, north Maharashtra, Marathwada and western Maharashtra.


As far as regional dynamics are concerned, Vidarbha with 62 assembly constituencies is politically significant, home to key leaders like Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar, state Congress chief Nana Patole and his BJP counterpart Chandrashekhar Bawankule.


The Congress aims to regain lost ground against the BJP which has made substantial inroads in the past decade, with pressing issues such as irrigation and farmer distress.


A hotbed of Maratha quota agitation, the Marathwada region has 46 assembly segments where the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) are expected to have an edge over rivals.

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