As the race for the Mumbai Mayor’s post intensifies, tensions have escalated between Mahayuti allies—the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction)—with both staking claim to the post despite neither having a clear majority on its own.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the recently concluded Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections with 89 corporators. The Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), which contested the polls in alliance with the BJP, secured 29 seats.
Together, the two allies have 118 corporators, giving them a slender majority of just four seats. In contrast, the Opposition bloc commands 105 votes, with the Shiv Sena (UBT) alone holding 65 corporators.
Soon after the results were declared, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde moved his party’s corporators to a five-star hotel, triggering speculation about possible poaching. Although the corporators have since moved out, concerns persist.
The Shinde-led Shiv Sena has also indicated its desire for the mayoral post. Party leader and state minister Uday Samant said, “Every party wants the top post, and Bal Thackeray’s birth centenary year gives this demand a different dimension.”
The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) has alleged that the decision on Mumbai’s mayor will be taken in Delhi, calling it an insult to the Shinde faction.
“For the first time in history, Mumbai’s mayor will be chosen from Delhi. The BJP high command will decide this. To decide Mumbai’s mayor, especially those who call themselves the real Shiv Sena have to go to Delhi. Is this what Shiv Sena stands for? They have no self-respect. These are helpless people who only want power,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.
Raut further claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants a BJP mayor but the party lacks a majority. He alleged that corporators were being kept in a hotel “almost like prisoners.”
“Despite having a government at the Centre and a strong Deputy Chief Minister in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, these corporators are still being confined. Why are they so afraid?” Raut asked.
He also alleged that the BJP made Eknath Shinde Chief Minister only to split the Shiv Sena. “Eknath Shinde never had real dominance. He was made Chief Minister only to break the Shiv Sena—that was his so-called dominance. Now his utility is over. The circle is complete,” Raut said.
Raut further claimed that the phones of corporators were being tapped, an allegation strongly denied by the BJP.
Responding to the charge, Maharashtra BJP media in-charge Navnath Bane said the party had no need for phone tapping. “Raut should first clarify who was tapping the phones of Eknath Shinde and Uday Samant when the Maha Vikas Aghadi, led by Uddhav Thackeray, was in power. We have strong support from corporators and are not engaged in such activities,” Bane said.