BMC Election 2017: The counting of votes for Asia’s biggest and richest civic body took place on February 23 and big political leaders like Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had their eyes set on the final numbers. As it turned out, none of the parties managed to get a clear mandate as Shiv Sena grabbed 84 seats while BJP finished second by winning 82 seats. Even though Congress ended up with 31 seats, it is playing an important part in deciding the fate of Mumbaikars.
On Saturday morning, there were reports of Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray’s emissaries approaching Congress with a proposal to back Shiv Sena’s claim for the city mayor’s post. On the other hand, there were reports of Bharatiya Janata Party trying to get independent corporators to have their own mayor. However, none of these reports make much sense as it doesn’t solve either Shiv Sena or BJP’s problems.
Actually the equation is quite simple, BJP and Shiv Sena have been good allies for almost 20 years now. They form an alliance in the state as well but leading to these civic elections there have been many differences between both the parties and top leaders attacked each other on multiple occassions. However, the sensible option should have been to form an alliance for the better governance of Mumbai since they share a similar ideology.
If Shiv Sena decides to collaborate with Congress, it is going to be a perfect mismatch that Mumbai cannot afford right now. While the Sena’s ideology is based on the concepts of ‘Bhumiputra’ (Marathi for “Sons of the Soil”) and Hindutva or Hindu nationalism, Congress is a liberal, secular party. Shiv Sena is essentially a regional party that believes that Maharashtrians deserve more rights in Maharashtra than those who are not from Maharashtra. However, in recent times, the Sena has laid more emphasis on Hindutva. Whereas Congress positions itself as a socialist, ‘moderate’, left of center or centrist party.
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All is not lost for the Mumbaikars yet as the Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI in the evening that the an alliance with Congress is unlikely and the new mayor will be from Mumbai only. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also said that BJP is open to come together with the Shiv Sena for the development of city. So, its time to act a little mature and both the top leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis need to keep their personal issues aside and come together for better governance of Mumbai.