Though the Mahayuti achieved a decisive victory in elections to the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC), which is the richest civic body in India, the alliance is yet to decide about make a decision over the next mayor of the country's financial capital, said sources on Monday, who added that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde will likely hold a meeting tonight or by Tuesday to end the deadlock.
It must be mentioned here that Fadnavis had returned to India from Switzerland's Davos on Sunday after attending the World Economic Forum (WEF). According to sources, the mayoral elections in BMC will likely be held in the first week of February, as the councillors of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena are yet to register themselves.
BMC numbers and the clear edge to Mahayuti
The polling for the BMC elections was held on January 15 and the results were declared on January 16, with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party with 89 seats. The Shiv Sena won 29 seats, and together, they have 118 councillors, four more than the majority mark of 114. This number rises to 121 if three councillors of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are added.
The NCP is also a member of the Mahayuti, but had gone solo in the BMC elections. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, the Congress 24 and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) six. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) won just one seat. For the BMC elections, the Sena UBT and the MNS had formed an alliance after the Thackeray brothers reunited after over two decades.
Shinde's demand in BMC
As per sources, Shinde proposed "two-and-a-half years each" formula for the mayor's term, but it was rejected by the BJP. Later, he demanded that BMC should have a Sena mayor for at least a year. However, the saffron party is not agreeable to Shinde’s demands.
Sources said the deputy chief minister has now demanded that posts of deputy mayor and chairman of the standing committee. Fadnavis and Shinde will likely hold a meeting in this regard soon to end the deadlock, so that the BMC could get its new mayor.
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