MUMBAI: The game of “who blinks first” has begun for the post of mayor in Mumbai after the BJP finished just two seats short of its estranged ally Shiv Sena in a neck-and-neck fight for the richest municipal corporation in the nation.
“Why to haste? We are celebrating our victory. We are waiting for the sweets. I suggest you also wait,” said Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to media persons as the results of the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls rolled in.
While declining to reply to questions regarding a possible patch-up between the Shiv Sena and BJP, Uddhav said, “Why to reply to the same questions when I had already said before the elections that this is a new beginning for us?”
On the other hand, while Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil had already made it clear that “the party who severed its ties before elections (meaning the Shiv Sena) will have to take the lead in patching up after the polls,” chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP core committee would be meeting at his residence Varsha later in the night to decide the future course of action.
However, a section within the BJP was optimistic about a reunion of the estranged allies in the BMC. While revenue minister Chandrakant Patil said there is hardly any other workable option left for the Shiv Sena and BJP but to come together. Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, "We all want Shiv Sena to come along with us."
With results still coming in as we went to press, the BJP registered massive victories in civic bodies across Maharashtra, and was poised to bag eight out of the 10 municipal corporations, seven out of 25 zilla parishads and almost a fourth of the panchayat samiti seats. In contrast, the Shiv Sena could retain only the Thane Municipal Corporation and the Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad and stood fourth in the count of panchayat samiti seats won.
In Mumbai, the Shiv Sena could get only two seats more than the BJP. Given this thin margin, would the party be able to dictate terms while dealing with the BJP was the question being discussed in political circles late Thursday.
The Congress has faced its worst defeat in the BMC, getting only 31 seats, while NCP and MNS were contained to nine and seven respectively. Only four Independents managed to win this time in Mumbai. The BJP and Shiv Sena both have claimed the support of these Independents. But even that isn’t sufficient for either one of them to claim a majority in the municipal corporation without the help of the other.
“You’ll get answers to all your questions during the election of mayor,” Uddhav Thackeray said when asked about the possible scenario.