In a revival of Maharashtra’s notorious “resort politics,” Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has instructed all 29 corporators of his Shiv Sena faction to assemble at the Taj Lands End hotel in Bandra.
The corporators, elected on the Shinde Sena ticket, were asked to arrive by 3 pm on Wednesday and stay for the next three days as negotiations over control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) intensify. Party sources said the move is aimed at preventing poaching or “horse-trading” by rival parties during deliberations over the civic body’s leadership.
With 29 seats, the Shinde faction is a key ally for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which fell short of a majority on its own. Shinde, according to officials, wanted to ensure all corporators remain together until a formal claim to power is made in the country’s wealthiest municipal body.
The strategy recalls earlier bouts of resort politics in Maharashtra. In 2019, rival camps of the Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP sequestered MLAs in luxury hotels amid fears of defections. Similarly, during the 2022 Shiv Sena split, legislators were housed in hotels across Surat, Guwahati, and Goa as factions vied for control.
The opposition reacted sharply. Congress MP Naseer Hussain questioned Shinde’s concerns about poaching. “Who is he afraid of? Who can poach his councillors? Who has the experience of poaching?” he asked, alleging that the BJP has expanded at the expense of allies and splinter groups.
Also read: BJP breaches BMC fortress, registers big win in Pune
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray apologised for being unable to campaign across all municipal corporations and thanked voters who supported his party. He criticised the civic polls as “the most hideous elections” and alleged widespread misuse of power, money, and pressure. “Those who fought against it are the real saviours of democracy,” he said. On the BMC mayoral race, he added, “Even today we wish so, but right now we do not have the numbers on our side.”
The backdrop to the developments is the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance’s decisive victory, which ended the Thackeray family’s long dominance of the BMC. Under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP won 89 of 227 wards, surpassing its 2017 tally of 82 seats. The Shinde-led Sena added 29 seats, giving the Mahayuti alliance a combined total of 118, comfortably above the halfway mark of 114.
However, the results also highlighted Shinde’s struggle to retain the traditional base in Mumbai. While most corporators of the undivided Shiv Sena backed him post-split, his faction managed only 29 seats. In contrast, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena secured 65, down from 84 in 2017.
Speaking to India Today, Shinde described the verdict as a mandate for “development” and against “corruption,” crediting the BJP-led alliance’s performance over the past three-and-a-half years. On the question of the new BMC mayor, he said it would be “someone from the Mahayuti.”
Other results include Congress winning 24 seats, AIMIM eight, and the Uddhav Sena–MNS–NCP (SP) combine 72 seats.
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