The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena on Monday sought to capitalise on the apparent tussle between the BJP and its ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation mayor's post, asserting that it remained a formidable challenger.
"The BJP keeps talking about having its mayor. Eknath Shinde does not even have 30 corporators, yet he wants the mayor to be from his party. Whoever they decide to install will be installed. But we are still here — tiger abhi zinda hai (the tiger is still alive)," Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, daring the BJP to go ahead with the election for the top post. "Even now, we and our allies have the numbers to challenge them," he added.
The BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance registered a victory in the BMC elections last Friday, winning 118 of the 227 seats in the civic body. However, the combine has yet to finalise its mayoral candidate amid apparent bargaining by Shinde for the post.
The BJP emerged as the senior partner with 89 seats, while the Shinde Sena secured only 29. Despite this, the junior ally is learnt to be pressing its claim for the mayor’s post, arguing that such a “large-hearted gesture” would send a positive message to the Marathi manoos.
Shinde, who is the deputy chief minister in the BJP-led Mahayuti government, has housed all 29 of his newly elected corporators at a star hotel in Mumbai since Saturday, amid concerns over poaching attempts by rivals and to strengthen his negotiating position. The backing of these 29 corporators has emerged as crucial for the BJP to gain control of the country’s richest civic body.
Against this backdrop, the Shiv Sena (UBT), which underscored its ground strength despite the party's split by winning 65 seats, is seeking to leverage the “Marathi pride” plank to draw political mileage. The BMC, which has been ruled by the Shiv Sena for decades, has for the first time thrown up an opportunity for the BJP to install its own mayor.
“The day a BJP mayor is elected, Mumbai will drown in a sea of grief. Understand this. The day a BJP leader or a traitor becomes mayor, Mumbai will sink into sorrow,” Raut said at a media interaction in Mumbai, in an apparent attempt to mount pressure on the Shinde faction's corporators.
Officially, the Shinde faction of the Sena has not staked a formal claim to the mayor’s post, but party leaders privately say they are pushing for at least a rotational arrangement. “The mayor’s post should be shared between the Shiv Sena and the BJP on a rotational basis of two-and-a-half years each. The BJP should respect alliance dharma and agree to this,” a leader of the faction said.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is being credited with the BJP’s strong electoral performance, is in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum and is expected to return next week, after which a decision is likely. "The mayor will be from the Mahayuti. It will be decided collectively by Mahayuti leaders,” Fadnavis said before leaving for Davos, dismissing talk of differences within the alliance.
The Sena (UBT), however, is intensifying its efforts to highlight alleged differences between the victorious alliance partners, while mocking the Shinde faction for housing its corporators in a hotel. "The BJP does not have the numbers to get its mayor elected. Despite being in power in the state, they are confining their own corporators in hotels like prisoners. This reflects fear," Raut said.