The Mahayuti's victory in elections to the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is historic, as it ended the monopoly of the Thackerays in their last bastion. However, there is no clarity on the new mayor of Mumbai, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are yet to hold a discussion on this, said sources on Saturday.
The sources said that the procedure to elect the new mayor will likely take over a week of time, as the senior BJP and Shinde Sena leaders will hold meetings and discussions with each other. They also noted that a discussion on a 2.5-year rotational term hasn't been held.
The combined strength of the BJP and the Shiv Sena in Mumbai stands at 118, four more than the majority mark of 114. If one adds three seats of Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), also a Mahayuti member, then this number rises to 121.
On the other hand, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena has 65 seats in BMC. It had contested in alliance with Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which won just six seats. The Congress has 24 seats and Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) has just one seat. Even if all these numbers are added (96), they will be well short of the majority mark.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the NCP(SP) are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). However, Congress and the NCP(SP) had contested separately. The Sena (UBT) wanted Congress to be a part of its alliance with MNS, but the grand old party had rejected the proposal.
Uddhav's claim on mayor
Although his party has lost the BMC polls, Uddhav has said that it is his dream to install a mayor in Mumbai, and this dream will be realised if the God is willing. He also slammed the BJP and said that the saffron party is in a delusion if it thinks that the Shiv Sena (UBT) is finished off.
"The BJP couldn't finish off Shiv Sena on the ground," he said, addressing his party workers. "They (BJP) have registered victory by betrayal for mortgaging Mumbai. Marathi manoos will never forgive this sin. The battle has not ended, but it has just begun."
Shinde Sena's resort move
With Uddhav not giving in over mayoral position, the Shinde Sena has shifted all its 29 corporators to Taj Lands End, a five-star hotel in Mumbai's Bandra, and there is no clarity on how long would they stay there. A party insider said that the corporators have been moved to "refresh" them after a "hectic" election season.
Fadnavis lambasts Uddhav
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis lambasted Uddhav and said that the BJP had a 45 per cent vote share in the BMC elections, which he added that shows the strong support the saffron party has received. The BJP leader made the remark while addressing party workers in Mumbai on Saturday.
"Many people are saying that in 2017 (when the previous elections were held) we (BJP) had won 82 seats and now we have won 89, so is that really an achievement... in 2017 we contested 227 seats and won 82, whereas this time we contested only 135 seats and won 89," he said.
"We have realised our strength, and the people of Mumbai have supported our development agenda... in several constituencies, we lost by very thin margins. We could have crossed the 100-seat mark otherwise," he added.
