Ally Shiv Sena turns kingmaker as fight brews over mayor’s post, standing committee
Mahayuti leaders (from left) Ramdas Athawale, CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. File pic/Ashish Raje
The central and state leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is unwilling to share key power positions in Mumbai’s civic body with its ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Despite being part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP wants complete control of the mayor’s post and the powerful standing committee in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), signalling growing unease within the alliance ahead of the civic battle.
On Tuesday, senior BJP leader Ameet Satam and a select group of Sena leaders were in Delhi to resolve seat-sharing differences within the BJP Sena alliance. While the two parties together have the numbers to elect the mayor, negotiations continue over how power will be divided between them.
When asked whether the BJP would insist on having its own mayor in Mumbai, Satam said, “The mayor will be of the Mahayuti.” He added that discussions in Delhi were also focused on deciding the group leader and several organisational issues related to the BMC. In the 227-member BMC, the BJP has won 89 seats, while the Shiv Sena has secured 29. Together, the two allies comfortably cross the halfway mark of 114 seats required to elect the mayor.
However, the BJP does not have a majority on its own. Without the support of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, the party cannot fulfil its long-standing ambition of installing a BJP mayor in Mumbai. Aware of his party’s strategic importance despite its smaller seat share, Shinde has emerged as a kingmaker and is bargaining hard for the top post and key positions in the civic body.
Sources said the Sena is demanding an equal share in the mayor’s tenure, proposing a split-term arrangement of two and a half years each for the Sena and the BJP. Meanwhile, the state government has initiated the process to elect the next Mumbai mayor. As per civic rules, reservation for the post will be decided through a lottery system on January 22.
The BMC was ruled for 25 years by the undivided Shiv Sena, first under Balasaheb Thackeray and later under his son Uddhav. In the recent civic results, Shiv Sena UBT secured 65 seats, while Raj Thackeray’s MNS won six seats. A senior BJP leader dismissed speculation that the Shiv Sena would get the Mayor’s post, particularly in the backdrop of the centenary year of Bal Thackeray.
According to sources within the BJP, the party is willing to offer its ally control of departments such as Education, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), and a few other committees, while retaining the mayor’s post, the powerful standing committee, and possibly the improvement committee.
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