The uncle-nephew bonhomie and the local polls

Following the SC's directives to the state government, elections to district councils and municipal bodies are expected to be held immediately after the monsoon

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s remarks on reunion with nephew Ajit Pawar-led NCP and his frequent appearances with the latter on public platforms have confused both his friends and rivals. Leaders from both the factions think there could be some understanding between them in the context of local body polls and that the process could start with top leaders sending “positive signals” to the cadres. Following the Supreme Court’s directives to the state government, elections to zilla parishads (district councils) and municipal bodies are expected to be held immediately after the monsoon.

The uncle-nephew bonhomie and the local polls

Both parties are particularly interested in the rural polls where party lines are blurred. Local leaders of both the NCP factions were working together in Zilla Parishad/Panchyat Samiti politics. Their local rivals are from Congress or BJP. As such, it will make sense politically to have local level adjustments to retain control, feel leaders from both the parties. Even after the split, there are several places where people from both factions are working together to control the APMCs or local cooperative banks or cooperative sugar factories. The general understanding could be to not let the control go to old rivals (Congress) or new rivals (BJP), they say. For instance, Ajit-led NCP’s leaders in Ahilyanagar would be more comfortable working with their former colleagues who are now in NCP (SP) rather than their traditional rival and BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil’s supporters. As far as the state-level alliance is concerned, both factions are well aware that it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. The picture will be clear closer to the next Lok Sabha or assembly elections. For now, it won’t be surprising if more reconciliatory noises are heard in the coming days.

Lull on Thackeray front

While political parties have begun preparations for the local body polls, there is still confusion over Mumbai civic polls. Since last year’s assembly elections, both BJP and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have been planning how to decimate Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT) in Mumbai. BJP leaders see a chance of having a mayor from their party in Mumbai for the first time. Shinde has speeded up his drive to poach on Thackeray faction’s former corporators and local level leaders to ensure that Thackeray is not left with much force to fight on the ground. The talk of reunion of Thackeray brothers had given a few anxious moments to the Shinde camp but there has been a long lull on that front. MNS chief Raj Thackeray has not spoken a word on the issue so far since he returned from his vacation. Uddhav Thackeray returned couple of days ago but has also maintained a silence. He rarely reacted in terms of public comments on the issue of Pahalgam terror attack and India-Pak conflict while he was away on vacation. Shinde camp is not leaving the opportunity to frequently taunt the party over the same.

The officer behind Metro 3

With the Mumbai Metro 3 achieving another milestone after getting the Acharya Atre Chowk (Worli) to Bandra Kurla Complex phase operational on Saturday, the officer whose contribution to the project is being talked about is Ashwini Bhide. For the past eight years, barring a gap during MVA rule when she was transferred, Bhide has been quietly working on this most ambitious but complicated mass transit project. The team led by her did a lot of spadework including acquiring land, convincing residents of old buildings to surrender their buildings for construction of the metro, diversion of significant number of utilities to build India’s longest underground line and constantly haggling with central agencies that were not very willing to cooperate. Bhide is now in chief minister’s office but is also MD of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation and is eager to get the entire stretch of Metro 3 till Cuffe Parade operational by August. The project will definitely be a feather in her cap.

Shinde versus Naik

Meanwhile, the war between two old rivals, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and forest minister Ganesh Naik, has intensified in Thane district. BJP has deputed Naik to counter Shinde on his home turf and he has already announced that Thane will now have first BJP mayor after the civic polls. The Shinde camp in the past three days has inducted several former corporators from NCP (SP) to his party. It is being said that some of them were in talks with BJP but before Naik and his colleagues could close the deal, Shinde swooped down and brought them to Shiv Sena. On Friday, several structures in a club run by Sena leader in Navi Mumbai Vijay Chaugule was demolished in a joint action by Cidco, Navi Mumbai civic body and the forest department which is headed by Naik. Sena leaders suspect Naik is behind the action as Chaugule is a key man for Shinde in Navi Mumbai, which is Naik’s bastion.