BMC Mayor Deadlock: Shinde To Skip Cabinet Meet Again As Mahayuti Tensions Simmer

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde skipped the state Cabinet meeting for the second consecutive time on Tuesday, a move being seen as a political signal amid an unresolved power-sharing impasse within the ruling Mahayuti alliance over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) mayor’s post and other key civic positions.

While Shinde did not publicly comment on his absence, he was engaged in political engagements through the day. He addressed a Zilla Parishad election rally in Satara and is later scheduled to attend the birth anniversary programme of late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe in Thane.

According to sources aware of the developments, negotiations between the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena have hit a deadlock over leadership positions in multiple municipal corporations, with the BMC mayor’s post emerging as the principal flashpoint.

The Mahayuti alliance has the numbers to form the civic government in Mumbai following the recent municipal elections. However, the BJP, as the single-largest party in the BMC, is insisting on retaining the mayor’s position and the powerful standing committee chairmanship, while the Shiv Sena (Shinde) argues that its support is critical for alliance control of the civic body.

Compounding the strain, leaders from the Shinde camp point to the fact that the party lost around 10 seats in the BMC due to BJP rebels, an issue that has quietly fuelled discontent during post-poll negotiations.

Following the declaration of results, the mandatory lottery system for reservation of mayoral posts placed the BMC mayor’s seat in the general category for a woman candidate, an established but politically significant development that has further sharpened internal calculations as both allies assess potential claimants.

The standoff is not limited to Mumbai. Similar power-sharing disagreements have surfaced in Thane, where the BJP is demanding the mayor’s post for two-and-a-half years, and in Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar, where leadership formulas are yet to be finalised despite workable alliance majorities.

Political equations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have also added to the unease. Forest Minister and senior BJP leader Ganesh Naik’s recent political positioning in Thane and Navi Mumbai is being closely watched within the Shiv Sena (Shinde), given Shinde’s longstanding influence in the region.

Shinde’s absence from the Cabinet meeting comes at a sensitive juncture when civic negotiations are reaching a decisive stage. Leaders from both sides maintain publicly that discussions are ongoing and that the Mahayuti alliance remains intact, but concede privately that municipal power-sharing has emerged as a tougher test than anticipated.

The BMC, India’s richest municipal corporation and a former bastion of the undivided Shiv Sena, remains central to Maharashtra’s political landscape.

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