Nearly a fortnight after pulling off a historic win in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, among several other corporations, in alliance with its key Mahayuti ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, across Maharashtra, the BJP is now intensifying its bid to resolve their differences over power-sharing to run these civic bodies.
As part of its bargaining proposal, the BJP seems to be willing to leave control of the Thane Municipal Corporation to the Shinde Sena in exchange for securing its upper hand on the mayoral post and the standing commitee’s control in the cash-rich BMC. With regard to the corporations in Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar, where the tallies of both allies are virtually at par, the BJP wants to share power “equally” with the Sena.
These four corporations, which are part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), are among the civic bodies where the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested together.
Highly placed sources in the BJP said, “Our proposal to Shinde is, you keep power in Thane Municipal Corporation on your terms and allow the BJP upper hand in BMC. In Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar, our power-sharing should be on 50:50 basis.”
Sources said this formula will be discussed in detail between Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and Shinde, the Deputy CM, when they hold their meetings in the coming days, sources said.
On Tuesday, Shinde skipped the weekly meeting of the Fadnavis Cabinet, which raised an alarm in the ruling coalition. Shinde was said to be away in his native village Dare in Satara district.
A senior bureaucrat said, “Shinde has skipped the Cabinet meeting. We don’t know the cause of his absence.”
Going by his past records, Shinde has often retired to his village Dare whenever he has gone into a sulk over some political or policy differences with his senior ally.
Speaking to media persons after the Cabinet meeting, Fadnavis sought to play down the row, saying “We are together and talking. There is no dispute between alliance partners. All the decisions related to mayor or power formula in BMC and other municipal corporations across Maharashtra will be done through consensus soon.”
While denying that there was a delay in the decision-making of these civic bodies due to differences between the BJP and the Sena, Fadnavis said, “There are some technicalities that are being worked out. We are looking at options on whether we should register as one bloc (BJP-Sena) or separately along with other smaller parties. This is necessary to enhance our percentage representation in various working committees in the BMC.”
Sources said, “The BJP has urged Shiv Sena for joint registration to put up a united front in BMC. It will operate as one bloc under joint leadership of BJP,” adding that “Shiv Sena is however non-committal as it wants to retain its separate identity.”
In the 227-member BMC, the BJP bagged 89 seats, emerging as the single largest party, while the Shinde Sena won 29 seats. Together, they account for 118 seats, four seats more than the simple majority mark.
In Thane, Shinde’s home turf, the Shiv Sena won 75 seats in the 131-member corporation as compared to the BJP’s 28 seats. The party thus does not depend on the BJP for power here, which explains why the BJP wants to play second fiddle. This is in contrast to the BMC’s situation, where the BJP needs the Shinde Sena’s support to clinch a majority.
BJP insiders point out how they went for the pre-poll pact in Thane “as per Shinde’s wishes” and against their own local unit which wanted to contest the election separately.
Even after the results in Thane, BJP leader Sanjay Kelkar had said that “Our party would prefer to sit in opposition”, while another party MLA Niranjan Davkhare had said, “The BJP should have its mayor at Thane.”
In the 122-member Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC), the Shiv Sena won 53 seats as compared to the BJP’s 50. With the Raj Thackeray-led MNS’s 5 corporators pledging support to Shinde, the Sena is just short of mustering the majority number. It is also unwilling to give any space to the BJP in the KDMC as Shinde’s son Shrikant is the Lok Sabha MP from the Kalyan-Dombivali constituency.
In the 78-member Ulhasnagar corporation, the BJP’s tally is 37 as compared to the Sena’s 36, with both partners jostling for mayoral post here too.
Amid these pulls and pressures across several corporations, the BJP camp has kept its focus on the Mumbai civic body, arguing that Shinde should concede the mayor’s post besides the standing committee’s control to the party in the BMC. However, Shinde is insisting on sharing the BMC mayor’s post by rotation for 2.5 years for each ally.
BJP sources said the negotiations between the two sides to hammer out a power-sharing formula are likely to result in a deal by early February.