Resort politics has made a dramatic return to Mumbai, with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena shifting its newly elected corporators to a five-star hotel, barely a day after the party emerged as a crucial kingmaker in the fiercely contested Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
According to reports, the move is driven by two key concerns: the threat of poaching ahead of the formation of the new civic body, and hard bargaining within the ruling Mahayuti alliance over control of Mumbai’s powerful mayoral post.
The BJP–Shinde Sena combine has delivered a decisive blow to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, ending the Thackeray camp’s 25-year dominance over India’s richest civic body. However, despite their strong performance, neither the BJP nor Shinde’s Sena has secured a majority on its own, leaving room for political manoeuvring.
Numbers that fuel anxiety
The BMC has 227 wards, with the majority mark set at 114. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while Shinde’s Shiv Sena won 29, taking the Mahayuti tally to a comfortable 118. Ajit Pawar’s NCP, which contested independently despite being part of the Mahayuti at the state level, added three more seats.
On the Opposition benches, the Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and NCP (Sharad Pawar) fought together. Sena (UBT) secured 65 seats, MNS won six, and NCP (SP) one, taking their combined strength to 72. The Congress won 24 seats, AIMIM eight, and the Samajwadi Party two.
If the entire Opposition spectrum were to unite, their numbers would rise to 106, just eight short of the majority mark. It is this arithmetic that has triggered fears of horse-trading and defections. A swing of just eight corporators from the ruling side could potentially derail the BJP-led alliance’s plans to take control of the BMC.
Shield against Poaching, a tool for bargaining
Against this backdrop, Shinde’s decision to move his corporators to a hotel is being seen as both a defensive and an offensive strategy. On one hand, it is meant to insulate the party from possible attempts by Opposition forces to woo members. On the other hand, it is viewed as a calculated effort to strengthen his hand and thus extract a better bargain from the BJP, possibly the position of the mayor.
Sources say the Shiv Sena is keen on retaining the prestigious mayor’s post, a position historically held by the Sena during its long rule over the BMC. Despite being the junior partner in the alliance, Shinde’s camp believes its “kingmaker” status entitles it to the post. There is reportedly intense pressure from within the party not to concede the mayoralty to the BJP.
That said, keeping the BJP out of power will be an uphill task after it emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats; even if the Shinde camp were to back a united Opposition, they would still need at least eight corporators to defect to cross the majority mark.
Echoes of 2022
The episode has also revived memories of June 2022, when Eknath Shinde dramatically split the Shiv Sena by going “out of reach” with a group of MLAs following Legislative Council elections. At the time, Shinde and his supporters were flown to Assam and housed in a hotel to prevent any counter-move by the Uddhav Thackeray camp, a rebellion that ultimately brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Now, nearly four years later, similar tactics are back in play, this time over control of Mumbai’s civic crown jewel. As negotiations intensify and numbers are closely guarded, the coming days will determine whether the BJP-led Mahayuti consolidates its victory or whether a surprise Opposition realignment throws up another twist in Maharashtra’s ever-turbulent politics.
