Mumbai: It’s official. The next Mumbai mayor will be from Shiv Sena. In a surprise move, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not contest the mayoral election in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). With this, it is almost certain now that Shiv Sena will retain its hold on India’s richest civic body.
Sources from the BJP said that the party would have had to compromise with either Sena or the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to come to power in the BMC and both options would have dented the CM’s “clean” image.
“We have decided not to put up a candidate for mayor or deputy mayor or any other committee chairman for Brihanmumbai Muni-cipal Corporation. We will not claim the post of opposition leader also,” the Chief Minister said after attending BJP’s core committee meeting.
The BJP’s announcement came on a day when Shiv Sena announced Vishwanath Mahadeshwar as its mayoral candidate. The Congress has also announced that its corporator Vitthal Lokre will contest the mayoral election.
However, Sena has 84 corporators and the support of four Independent corporators, while Congress has only 31 corporators in the house of 227 councillors. Since the BJP, which has 82 corporators has decided not to contest or support any other party, Mr Mahadeshwar is the clear frontrunner for mayor’s post.
