Milind Deora accuses Shiv Sena of gerrymandering, asks CM to nullify BMC ward delimitation

The infighting in MVA intensified as ex-Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora alleged that Mumbai's wards were gerrymandered to benefit Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls. Gerrymandering refers to the redrawing of boundaries of an electoral constituency to favour one party. While the BMC elections were scheduled earlier this year, they were delayed owing to the SC's stay on the OBC reservation in local body polls. In a letter addressed to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Wednesday, Deora urged him to nullify the recently concluded BMC ward-wise delimitation and reservation to ensure free and fair elections. 

Milind Deora complained, "The erstwhile government conducted the delimitation for BMC wards. In February 2020, 800 letters from political and apolitical leaders persons opposing the delimitation were received. It is necessary to take these letters seriously. I inform you with regret that the earlier government didn't take cognizance of this. If the ward-wise delimitation and reservation of BMC is implemented, only one party will benefit. In 20 out of 30 seats of BMC won by Congress in 2017, delimitation has been carried out in a wrong manner deliberately as a result of which the Congress party will suffer a huge loss."

"21 out of 30 seats held by Congress have been reserved for women in 2022 as per the reservation fixed on gender lines. Many Congress corporators are going to move the honourable High Court against this decision. Many people feel there was a lack of transparency in the delimitation process. Everyone also feels that the elections won't be transparent by crushing democratic principles," he added. Deora, who hasn't held a party position since 2019, was appointed as an observer for the Gujarat Assembly polls. 

Shiv Sena-BJP faceoff in BMC polls

BMC is considered Asia’s richest civic body with an annual budget of nearly Rs.37,000 crore. Shiv Sena has been a formidable force in the civic elections even when NCP-Congress was in power in the state. In the 2017 civic polls, BJP and Shiv Sena contested separately as they could not agree to the seat-sharing formula. Reportedly, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had threatened to pull out from the BJP government both in Maharashtra as well as the Centre at that juncture.

Thus, the 2017 BMC election became a prestige battle for the Sena and BJP. The results brought in more cheer for BJP than the Sena as the former secured 82 seats, an increase of 51 seats from the previous election. Moreover, the Shiv Sena fell way short of the majority winning just 84 seats. On the other hand, Congress, NCP, and MNS won 31, 7 and 6 seats respectively.

After hectic negotiations, BJP decided not to challenge the Sena on the Mayor’s position. Thus, Shiv Sena's Kishori Pednekar and Suhas Wadkar won the election to the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively on November 22, 2017. While the divide between the two allies continued to grow over the years, the Sena consolidated its position in the BMC when all 6 winning candidates of the MNS joined the party. The upcoming polls are being perceived as a litmus test for Uddhav Thackeray as 40 out of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs are supporting the state government.