The big Thackeray reunion, BJP-Shiv Sena's might and a triangular contest for BMC elections

Mumbai: At a time when Maharashtra politics largely involves two diametrically-opposite alliances -- Maha Yuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi -- the contest in the Mumbai civic body elections has become triangular.

Stakes are very high in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the richest civic body of India.

In this western Indian state, the Maha Yuti comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP occupy the Treasury benches while the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP) are in the Opposition benches.

But in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, things are different and the contest has become triangular.

The key element of Mumbai elections is the reunification of the Thackeray cousins - Uddhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and Raj, who is the founder-president of MNS - who have come together after a gap of 20 years on the issue of Marathi-manoos and Marathi-language.

The undivided Shiv Sena - headed by late Balasaheb Thackeray and Uddhav — has commanded the BMC for quarter of a century and after the humiliating defeat in the 2024 Vidhan Sabha polls and the just-concluded elections to the municipal councils and town panchayats, this is a big battle for the cousins who have come together after parting ways in 2005.

On the other hand is BJP and Shiv Sena, who have formed a formal alliance.

For chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who calls the shots for the BJP, and his deputy Shinde, who is now the Shiv Sena chief leader, taking control of the BMC from the Thackerays is a big challenge.

The BJP-Shiv Sena will be supported by several groups like Ramdas Athawale-led RPI (Athawale) and Anandraj Ambedkar, who head the Republican Sena.

The Congress is contesting the elections along with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Mahadev Jankar headed Rashtriya Samaj Paksha - as the MVA, the I.N.D.I.A alliance in the State, shattered in Mumbai because of Uddhav’s insistence to include Raj in the opposition grouping. However, because of Raj’s position on migrants, it was difficult for the Congress to take him along.

The NCP, which is headed by Ajit Pawar, another of Fadnavis’ deputy, is not part of the grand alliance, as the BJP has objected to the appointment of former minister and ex MLA Nawab Malik as the chairman of party’s election management committee for Mumbai. The BJP has objected to Malik’s name in the wake of cases against him involving property deals with relatives and aides of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. The NCP is contesting independently.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which is part of the opposition bloc, is contesting the elections independently and so is the Samajwadi Party, which is headed by Abu Asim Azmi in the state. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) too is going along in the polls.