Mumbai has registered a drastic 72% dip in tree plantations thanks to rapid urbanization and lack of spaces for tree plantations. The number of tree plantations in Mumbai have slid from 72,212 trees in 2023-24 to 20,044 in 2024-2025 as per the latest Environment Status Report released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This includes about 9234 saplings planted in the city by Maharashtra’s forest department as part of its target to undertake plantations of over 10 crore saplings this year to increase the state’s green cover from 21.25% to 33 %. The state has already achieved 50% of its target by undertaking plantations of over 5.32 crore saplings this year. Deterioration of Mumbai’s air quality has been attributed to its depleting tree cover. No tree census has been conducted since 2018. This means the actual number of trees remains unknown and we are stuck at 29,75,283 trees. Conservation activist and founder of Waghoba Foundation Sanjiv Valsan questions the validity of the figures released by the government pointing to the glaring absence of figures of trees that are officially cut to make way for various urban megaprojects in the city like Metro, Bullet Trains etc. The actual number of trees lost to rapid urbanization and redevelopment of old buildings, which is not revealed, could be quite high. Reportedly, an estimated 40 trees are lost daily to make way for various projects. “Miyawaki plantations can never compensate for the loss of tree cover since they are essentially vertical stalks lacking canopy and unable to provide equivalent benefits like oxygen generation or carbon sequestration,” observes Valsan. A small relief is the BMC policy now to earmark spaces for planting trees alongside cement concrete roads.

The shadow of Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil continues to haunt and loom large over the Devendra Fadnavis government much after he wrapped up his fast in Mumbai and returned back home. Just when the Maharashtra government was breathing easy after having tackled Patil’s hunger strike, Patil is back with his threats after his bete noire Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded withdrawal or modification of the Government Resolution that had granted reservations for Marathas. While a natural backlash from the OBC community was expected as a natural reaction after yielding to the Maratha demand for reservation, the reaction is clearly overshadowing all other works that the state is doing. For Fadnavis, it has become a tightrope walk between pleasing the politically strong Marathas community or his own party’s support base of the OBC community. Soon after granting reservation to Marathas, a strong media blitzkrieg was launched in the state with front page advertisement campaigns splashed across mainline dailies emphasising Fadnavis as a personal brand addressing him as “Devabhau” or brother and showing him paying reverence to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha idol. Funded by anonymous sources, this media campaign was viewed as an attempt by Fadnavis to cash in on the goodwill generated by the Maratha community. But the opposition from OBC community particularly from Bhujbal, belonging to NCP, has riled the Marathas, forcing them to launch a fresh salvo. Patil has now threatened that in case the government fails to implement the reservation by September 17, he would block supplies of essential commodities like dairy, vegetables to Mumbai and not let ministers walk free. Jarange too seems to have learnt his lessons from his 9th fast in Mumbai. He has figured out that the only way to get his issue sorted is by inconveniencing the high-profile residents of Mumbai.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged unscathed and stronger post the Maratha agitation that disrupted Mumbai and challenged his leadership. The Maratha stir for reservations was seen as an attempt to embarrass Fadnavis’ government and it did falter badly initially attracting even the ire of the Mumbai High Court. The Maratha stir did test the Mahayuti government’s resilience, its stability and coalition strength as fears arose about the stir being pitchforked to destabilise Fadnavis government on the verge of upcoming local self-government polls. The chief minister seemed to lack vocal support from his own coalition partners who clearly chose to weigh in with the politically influential Maratha lobby. The Opposition too was unsparing with its jibes. Supriya Sule of the NCP-SP chided him for having broken her party and her family, while Sharad Pawar kept pushing the ball to the Centre recommending amendments. But, Fadnavis managed to end the stir, bring Mumbai back to normalcy and save his own leadership by giving away very little; the demanded government resolution may not withstand legal scrutiny, suggest legal hawks. Fadnavis may have faltered in handling the stir but he did manage to end it well on his own terms. He refused to meet the agitators and went about attending to Amit Shah on his two-day visit, attending to his duties and even visiting Ganesh pandals in Mumbai during the stir. Fadnavis managed to take the credit for facilitating reservations for the Marathas while his Maratha deputies were relegated to the sidelines. While giving up his fast, Manoj Jarange Patil meekly did mention his wish to withdraw stir in front of the CM and two deputy CMs. He gave in after realizing the government was in no further mood to entertain him.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been having a testing time in its attempts to make Maharashtra’s state festival of Ganeshotsav eco-friendly. Though the Bombay High Court relented on its ban on Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols this year, it insisted that idols below 6 ft must be immersed only in artificial ponds and not in the 70 natural water bodies including lakes, rivers or seashores earmarked for immersions. In a bid to incentivise clay idols, the BMC has been providing free clay to Ganesh idol makers. This year, the BMC also provided free eco-friendly colours to artisans to reduce pollution in water bodies. Over 990 metric tonnes of clay along with 10,800 litres of paint in five different colours were given free to over 500 idol makers in the city to reduce water pollution. For the first time this year, the BMC plans to collect the PoP from the immersed idols from the city’s 288 artificial ponds and process it at a facility at Bhiwandi, close to Mumbai. This follows consultations with over 12 institutions on ways to handle the PoP waste.  Senior officials have already warned that water from these artificial ponds should not be allowed into natural water bodies. Flower waste will be recycled into fertilisers. Considering the scale and popularity of the Ganesh festival, managing environmental concerns has been a huge challenge for the BMC. Last year, the city had seen 1557 community Ganesh idols and over 77,874 households Ganesh being immersed. However, this year, immersions of over 35,000 Ganesh idols have been reported within the very first two days of the festival. 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recovered 952 metric tonnes of wet waste from its seven beaches following massive garbage deposited by the sea waters. The scale of the pile-up on its beaches including Girgaum, Dadar, Mahim, Juhu, Versova, Madh-Marve and Gorai, was so large that the BMC was forced to undertake a massive 24×7 clean-up. Over 380 personnel from six different agencies were involved in this week-long exercise to clear the beaches off the garbage thrown back by the sea following a heavy downpour. Maximum garbage weighing 375 metric tonnes were recovered from Juhu beach followed by 300 tonnes from the Dadar-Mahim beachfront. The cleanest stretch of Mumbai’s 34 km coastline seems to be Gorai with barely 20 tonnes of garbage recovered. Mumbai is now installing trash booms on six major storm water drains to prevent floating waste from flowing into the Arabian Sea. Collectively costing over Rs 22 crore over the next three years, these thrash booms will also help to keep the city’s beaches clean. The city currently spends an estimated Rs 3 lakhs daily to keep its beaches clean. Environmental activists like Zoru Bhathena wonder why the BMC does not put up the cheaper trash boom nets across all its nalla outlets. “Why can’t our city simply stop the garbage from flowing into the sea rather than waste revenue and resources cleaning up its beaches?” he asks.

Raj Thackeray’s equidistant relationship with political leaders across the political spectrum in Maharashtra continues to baffle political analysts. His meeting with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the CM’s official residence, followed by his son Amit Thackeray meeting up with senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar the very next day, has been raising eyebrows in political circles. Even after officially joining stage with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray, there is no official announcement of the same and Raj continues to hold parleys with Eknath Shinde’s pointsman Uday Samant. Though the first foray of the Thackeray brothers in the BEST credit society has been a cropper, their political strength in the civic polls, cannot be ignored. Incidentally, despite meeting with the CM, Raj continued to be in unison with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray on the issue of raising discrepancies in the electoral rolls that has been strongly flagged by Rahul Gandhi.  The Congress unit from Panvel has found 85,211 duplicate voters in the electoral rolls. Uddhav Thackeray too has asked his cadres to scrutinise the electoral rolls for discrepancies to prevent electoral setbacks. That the brothers are raising the same issue as raised by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hints at the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) warming up to join the bandwagon of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. At this juncture, Raj Thackeray’s public meet-ups with leaders from both sides is being viewed as pressure tactics to secure a better deal for himself at the bargaining table for the upcoming polls. Though the MVA coalition has decided to fight the forthcoming local self-government elections separately, Raj Thackeray’s oratorical skills, which commands strong public turnouts at election rallies, could serve as a handy tool for both coalitions.

The successful redevelopment of the first phase of the Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) or famously known as BDD chawls, with keys being handed over to 556 of the over 15,000 residents, marks a significant beginning for Asia’s largest urban redevelopment project in the housing sector of Mumbai. The journey of the 556 residents from 160 sq ft to 500 sq ft houses, has been marked with much political churning with the chawl residents being historically divided into various community specific groups like Maharashtrians, Dalits and even Telugu residents. Spread over 92 acres in Worli, Naigaum and Sewri, the 206 three-storied chawls housing about 15,593 residential and 960 commercial units will now be housed in 68 buildings of minimum 19-34 storied. The project will be subsidized thanks to eight sale component buildings of 41-66 plus storied plush buildings. Incidentally, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has been battling charges of the Marathi-manoos, the native man, being displaced out of Mumbai, urged the BDD residents to not sell their flats and safeguard it for their future generation akin to family gold. On the same day, while addressing a builder’s body, Fadnavis lamented how despites sops being offered to developers, they had not helped in making housing affordable for the common man. He wondered why projects kept lagging behind schedule at a time when the world had technology to build 80-storied buildings within 120 days. Meanwhile, in another major leap, after developing Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the Maharashtra government is planning to develop an education hub termed third Mumbai. Spread over 300 acres, the educational hub, close to the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport has plans to host 14 foreign varsities with residential facilities for one lakh students.

While the Maharashtra government aspires to be a $1 trillion economy by 2030, the ground reality reflects a different scenario. Anandacha Shidha, a ration kit at Rs 100 for its 265.2 lakh ration card holders in state, costing exchequer Rs 350-400 crore per annum, has been discontinued this Ganesh festival citing lack of resources. Food, civil supplies and consumer protection minister Chhagan Bhujbal attributed the cut to the strain caused by the Rs 45,000 crore Ladki Bahin Yojana. A minor diversion of Rs 20-30 crore could have been handled but such a huge allocation was bound to strain other schemes, he explained. The Food & Civil supplies ministry received budgetary allocation of Rs 526 crore in the 2025-26 budget. The ministry’s other major flagship scheme, Shiv Bhojan thali, where a lunch thali is made available for Rs 10 and which costs exchequer Rs 140 crore annually, though continues for now, could be curtailed. About 3.97 crore thalis were disbursed from 1884 Shiv bhojan centers till November 2024. Social spendings have also registered a dip in recent years. Three departments — Social Justice and Special Assistance, Tribal Development & Food, and Civil Supplies — registered a 8.36% cut or Rs 4,476,93 lakh lesser than allocated spending in the 2023-24 budget. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured that the Rs 1,500 Ladki Bahin Yojana will not be discontinued. The BJP had promised to increase it to Rs 2100 in its election manifesto. Analysts have been warning of Maharashtra falling in a debt trap with debts crossing the Rs 10-lakh crore mark leading to a per capita debt of Rs 72,761.

Maharashtra’s chief minister Devendra Fadnavis whose ministers have been facing much Opposition heat for their resignations, has finally stated that there would be no more resignations coming in from his ministers. Fadnavis, who maintains an impeccable reputation, both with his public acts and deeds, has been much upset with the shenanigans of his coalition ministers and even publicly criticised them for sullying the image of his government. He seems to have been forced to go with them for now. Fadnavis clearly seems to have given in to Ajit Pawar’s alibi that any kind of resignation would have been akin to playing into the hands of the Opposition. In the case of the agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate, it was a case of fighting a more personal battle for Ajit Pawar, since the campaign against Kokate was being led by his own nephew Rohit Pawar with whom he does not have a good equation. With the face saver of reshuffle for Kokate, Ajit Pawar scores an ace by not yielding in to the campaign against his ministers and also gains an upper hand over the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP. As regards the ministers of the other coalition partner Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, his personal interventions with the home minister Amit Shah seems to have saved his ministers from Fadnavis’ wrath. Shinde has been rushing to Delhi multiple times including right in the midst of the monsoon assembly session after three of his ministers faced much heat over Sena MLA assaulting canteen staff, and other operating ladies bars. The Opposition has already taken the toll of one minister, Dhananjay Munde, within the first year of Devendra Fadnavis 3.0 term.

Maharashtra’s debt has now crossed the Rs 10 lakh crore mark, revealed former Opposition leader in Maharashtra’s Legislative Council Ambadas Danve. The state is raising Rs 57,509.7 crore through supplementary demands. Danve pointed out that the state spends one-third of its revenue in servicing its debt. The state already has a per capita debt of Rs 72,761 and has already earmarked Rs 1.54 lakh crore towards debt servicing including Rs 89,798 crore for principal amount repayment and Rs 64,659 crore towards interest servicing, in the 2025-26 budget. Danve estimated Maharashtra’s fiscal deficit to cross Rs 2 lakh crore by the end of this financial year; it currently stands at Rs 1.36 lakh crore. The state has been issuing tenders though it doesn’t have the funds to pay contractors and now hopes to rely on revenue of Rs 24,000 crore expected from excise duty on liquor to sail through, he said. The state has already diverted Rs 1081.7 lakh crore from various departments to fund its Ladki Bahin Yojana. According to financial analyst Rupesh Keer of Samarthan Advocacy, this is the first time that the state has taken debts to service its ballooning debt interest which reflects poor fiscal discipline. Already, Maharashtra has slipped down to the fifth position in terms of development in the country. The state is already under fire from the Comptroller and Auditors Report (CAG) for various off-budgetary borrowings that bypass legislative scrutiny and threaten to lead Maharashtra into a cycle of debt trap.  

The Vidhan Bhavan is increasingly witnessing scenes of bad blood and sharp exchange between legislators. While sarcastic one-liners comments and humorous leg pulling have been traditionally acceptable and even encouraged, the current exchange of barbs between political rivals has taken on a downward spiral. So, when the BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar questioned Sharad Pawar’s family members following different faiths, not surprisingly, it was followed by NCP(SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad passing nasty remark to Padalkar when the latter was giving bites to news channels. The duo continued their duel right till the parking lot of the Vidhan Bhavan. The discourse turned further downwards when Opposition members turned up in banians and towels to poke fun at Eknath Shinde’s MLA Sanjay Gaikwad turning up in that gear at the MLA hostel in a viral video. In fact, Aaditya Thackeray and Nitesh Rane had a one-to-one duel on the floors of the assembly over the former terming the latter’s party as Chaddi-Banian party. Even the normally genial Aaditya Thackeray did not spare others and called out deputy chairperson of the legislative council Dr Neelam Gorhe for her comment that Mercedes had to be gifted for posts in the Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. The TV cameras caught Gorhe returning an angry stare. The same evening saw Aaditya’s cousin and fellow legislator Varun Sardesai accusing Gorhe’s bodyguards of pushing him around, again the spat flowing out before full media glare. While the TV cameras positioned outside the Vidhan Bhavan provide much needed oxygen in such reel-worthy and hits-hungry viral times, it’s not surprising to see the political friction play before the media gallery at this monsoon session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

The political reunion of the Thackeray brothers — Raj and Uddhav Thackeray — has disturbed political calculations in the state forcing parties to reassess and redraw their political strategies as per the new ground realities. The direct impact of this reunion is obviously on Eknath Shinde, who officially holds the Shiv Sena party name and flag, and is eyeing the same pie of the Marathi manoos vote bank, that is now facing consolidation under the Thackeray brand. Shinde air-dashed to New Delhi in the middle of this assembly session to meet Union home minister Amit Shah. Shah is believed to have sought his opinion on how to deal with the Thackeray reunion in the forthcoming polls and if launching an attack on them could prove helpful or counterproductive. Shah is also said to have shared details of local surveys conducted by his party to assess the atmosphere post the Thackeray brothers reunion. Shinde, who is upset with the BJP local leadership, is also said to have shared his concerns about his minister receiving income tax notices, funds for his ministers being curtailed, and his party being kept away from power equations.. Analysts feel that the BJP could delay the elections in a bid to diffuse the strong buzz that the Thackeray brothers have successfully generated around the Marathi language issue. The BJP is keen to gain power at the BMC with vital projects like Dharavi redevelopment and other redevelopment projects unfolding in the city.

Three days after their joint rally at Worli, the Thackeray brothers bounced back on the streets, forcing the BJP and even Eknath Shinde on the backfoot. Their cadres turned up in large numbers to showcase Thackeray’s street strength at Mira Road, on the outskirts of Mumbai, which is emerging as the laboratory for polarisation of identity and communal politics. What Raj Thackeray lacks in political strength of numbers — he has zero legislators or corporators — he made up with his street-smart strategy, as he had vowed at the joint rally.  Both Thackeray’s stayed out and kept mum, letting cadres to defy midnight detainment by police, take train to outwit police and successfully put the BJP on the mat on the Marathi issue. Eknath Shinde’s minister Pratap Sarnaik, who tried to participate in the MNS showdown, was booed and forced to retreat within minutes. That chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had to step in, to distance itself from the critical remarks made by BJP Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dube as also to explain lack of police permission to protest, reflected the party’s failure to handle the Marathi language issue. That this street show is just the beginning can be gauged from the fact that Raj Thackeray has restrained his leaders from commenting on alliance issues. Interestingly, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, known to enjoy close equations with Raj, too has restrained his people from criticising Raj Thackeray or his party. Shinde has been very selective in reserving his criticism only for Uddhav Thackeray and showering praise on Raj, post the Thackeray’s joint rally.

About 767 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra between January and May 2025. These include about 229 farmer suicides in the month of April,2025. Of these, the families of only 373 farmers were found eligible to receive compensation of Rs 1 lakh from the state. Out of these, 327 families have received compensation, the balance 46 families’ paperwork are being processed. Claims for compensation of about 200 families were rejected as ineligible. These figures were provided by minister for relief and rehabilitation Makarand Jadhav Patil, in a written reply in the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The state has witnessed crop losses across 36 million hectares worth Rs 7000 crore in damages over the last five years. Maharashtra being highly vulnerable to climate change with the state witnessing 142 extreme weather events in 2024, only adds to the conundrum. The Opposition have been contending that the farmer suicides have been on the rise due to failure of the State to protect farmers from crops loss impacted by climate change, failure to provide fair support price, ensure crop insurance and failure to provide loan waivers to farmers. The state has recently scrapped crop insurance for farmers with a premium of Re 1. Maharashtra has the highest number of farmers suicides in the country with the parched regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada registering the highest numbers. Over 250 farmers committed suicide in March alone this year in these regions. The Opposition has been demanding that a higher compensation be awarded to farmer suicides on the lines of compensation provided to those who die due to wild animal attacks.

Despite much excitement and buoyancy among the cadres and the average Marathi manoos about the reunion of the Thackeray brothers — Raj and Uddhav — after two decades, the road ahead seems far from smooth. Though the Thackeray brothers are yet to announce anything concrete, talking more in cryptic clues and hints, how they manage their seats adjustments will determine the future of the political breakthrough. Even if a political reunion does get announced, as is expected at their joint victory rally on July 5, ironing out the creases may not be a smooth affair. For starters, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) could be uncomfortable with the entry of Raj Thackeray. While the Congress may have warmed up and collaborated with the sober Uddhav Thackeray wing of the Shiv Sena, joining hands with the strident Raj Thackeray of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena could prove a difficult pill to swallow for them. Particularly with Bihar elections on the anvil, enlisting Raj in the opposition coalition MVA could prove difficult. Prithviraj Chavan, the party’s senior leader has already stated that they would deal only with Uddhav vis-a-vis their alliance. Be it about his anti-migrants stance or about loudspeakers in mosques, Raj Thackeray has refused to break bread or make conciliatory notes towards North Indians or the Muslim community. Uddhav’s  Sena, on the other hand, has successfully earned sizable political dividends in the last 2024 assembly elections thanks to his outreach towards the Muslim community. Of the 20 seats won by Uddhav, 10 of them were from Mumbai, particularly its Muslim dominated constituencies like Jogeshwari (E), Bandra (E), Versova and Mahim. While visuals of their cadres from Sena and MNS dining together may make for great photo op, the actual give and take of seats particularly in the Marathi-dominated belt, will determine how this plays out on the ground.

Marathi celebrities and film stars find themselves getting called out for their silence on the Marathi issue. The issue of the imposition of Hindi language for primary students has raised hackles in Maharashtra since it is being perceived as an anti-Marathi decision. While a strong groundswell of protest has got both the estranged Thackeray cousins to rally together on this issue, Raj Thackeray is particularly upset that the average Marathi celebrity, particularly those from the Marathi film fraternity, have failed to stand up and speak about the issue. The fact that the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti government is pushing the initiative, makes it doubly difficult for many to voice their support. Asha Bhosale not just refused to take a stand but also publicly feigned knowing the Thackerays. Raj Thackeray, a known art aficionado, is known to patronise artists, academics and even film stars in a big way. Through his party — MNS film wing — he is known to fight for more theatre screens for Marathi films. He threatened to watch out for those who failed to support the issue. The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut specifically called out Nana Patekar, Madhuri Dixit and even Prashant Damle for their silence on this issue. Patekar is known to be a vocal voice on political issues and also known for his proximity with many political leaders.. Even the demigod of cricket Sachin Tendulkar was not spared for his silence. But, fortunately for him, the ex-ICC president chief Sharad Pawar rushed to defend him. Pawar stated that he should be allowed only to hold forth on subjects of his expertise. Now with both the Thackeray’s together, it remains to be seen how many celebrities from the Marathi film industry turn up on the streets for the Marathi language issue.

Kirit Somaiya, who rose up from the ranks to become a MP of the BJP, finds himself isolated within his own party. The fact that a coalition party leader like NCP’s Ajit Pawar could publicly tick him off without any protest from the BJP, clearly highlighted Somaiya’s lack of standing in his own party. The junior Pawar warned him to stay off Masjids since it escalated social tensions after Muslim legislators and leaders across Mumbai protested against his campaign against loudspeakers in Masjids. Muslim legislators across the board approached Ajit Pawar demanding he rein back Somaiya particularly since his campaign against Masjid loudspeakers created outrage in the community. Notwithstanding a token voice of support from Mumbai president Ashish Shelar, forget outrage there was not even a whimper of protest from within the BJP. Somaiya, once known to be close to the party leadership, found himself systematically isolated in the BJP. Despite raising high decibel anti-corruption campaigns against the likes of Ajit Pawar, Hasan Mushrif, Narayan Rane, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal, Uddhav Thackeray, he and his son found themselves denied party tickets. Almost all his campaigns failed to withstand legal scrutiny after most of those accused either joined the BJP or its coalition partners. Viral videos of him in a compromising position and charges of misappropriation of funds raised for INS Vikrant ship, were the last nail in his political career. But the persistent Somaiya refuses to give up and keeps raising controversial issues like that of illegal entry of Bangladeshis or illegal loudspeakers in Masjids, subjects that the party keeps at an arm’s length.

Developers in Mumbai owe pending rental dues worth over Rs 646 crore to slum dwellers whose houses have been taken up for redevelopment under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme. The pending rental dues had swelled upto Rs 1382.48 crore since 2022 of which the state helped recover Rs 735.67 crores till May, 2025. Defaulting on rents for slum dwellers of SRA projects has assumed such proportions that the government now insists developers deposit two years of rent in advance. The SRA also managed to get Rs 552 crore as advance rents from developers. In a bid to expedite stalled projects, the SRA has also served notices to 86 errant developers to facilitate their replacement and help these projects take off.  About 1700 projects of SRA are currently ongoing in the city of Mumbai, out of which about 517 are stalled due to various reasons. In order to take such stalled projects off the ground, the Maharashtra government has also got government statutory bodies like the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and even the City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to intervene and get into the slum rehabilitation space. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is also undertaking SRA in 64 of its own plots. Though the SRA was adjudged as the best performing department in the 100 days administrative reforms review by the Devendra Fadnavis government, activists are convinced that it continues to remain a developers’ domain.

The possibility of political merger of Maharashtra’s most powerful political family, the Pawars, has been ruled out by the family patriarch Sharad Pawar. There had been much speculation following the uncle-nephew (Ajit Pawar) sharing dais on multiple occasions. Underscoring that those aligned with the Congress ideology would not accept the BJP and view them as opportunists, senior Pawar also stressed how those who had left him in his political journey had ended up defeated out of the electoral race. His daughter Supriya Sule, who has now emerged as a strong voice within the NCP-SP since her takeover as the working president, is said to be averse to the idea of reuniting with her cousin. Sharad Pawar’s partymen, known to lead sugar industries and banking institutions, have been reportedly itching to return to power. Sharad Pawar’s good personal equations with PM Narendra Modi clearly are not proving fruitful for his partymen. Being out of power also isn’t helping the senior Pawar faction particularly with Ajit Pawar, known to leverage his position as Maharashtra’s finance minister, for his partymen. Ajit Pawar continues with his mission to poach from his uncle’s party with his official position clearly giving him an edge in the poaching exercise. The BJP too seems to be poaching party leaders from opposition parties with a vengeance and this exercise seems to have picked up steam now with the local body elections around the corner.

The meeting of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with Raj Thackeray was a clear indicator that the Thackeray brothers are not fighting the local body elections together. It practically nipped in the bud all speculations of the reunion of Thackeray brothers that would have led to the consolidation of the Marathi vote bank particularly in the urban belts of Maharashtra like Mumbai, Thane and Nashik where Raj Thackeray’s party holds some influence. Currently, the loyalties of the traditional Marathi vote bank are split into three between the Thackerays and Eknath Shinde, who has thrown in his weight behind the BJP. Shinde’s key aides like Uday Samant have played a crucial role in getting Raj Thackeray to go with the ruling Mahayuti alliance. While the speculation of the reunion of the Thackeray brothers was received with much warmth and support from the cadres on either side, clearly the consolidation of the Marathi vote bank would not have suited all parties. Definitely not the BJP which is looking to decimate the Shiv Sena particularly the Uddhav Thackeray wing in Mumbai and would not have wanted him strengthened.  The Raj-Fadnavis meeting, coming as it did in the wake of heavy speculation and lobbying from Shiv Sena’s vocal spokesperson Sanjay Raut left no doubt about Fadnavis emerging as the boss in Maharashtra politics. The entry of Raj Thackeray in the BJP-alliance could also prove to be a counterweight against Shinde, whom the BJP is not keen to let him grow stronger in Mumbai post the BMC polls.

The issue of dowry harassment picked up steam in Maharashtra after a party worker’s family from Ajit Pawar’s NCP got arrested following the suspicious suicide of his daughter-in-law in Pune. Public ire soon turned into a political slugfest once it emerged that the distraught victim had sought help from chairperson of the state women’s commission Rupali Chakankar, who failed to act. Chakankar, known to be a close aide of Ajit Pawar did try to downplay by pointing out she had forwarded the complaint to the authorities for action. The Shiv Sena faction of Uddhav Thackeray jumped in, raising questions about the effectiveness of political nominees, instead demanding only non-political appointees. Many other instances of daughters being harassed for dowry too surfaced thereafter. Just when the issue of dowry harassment by politically influential families threatened to snowball big, deputy chairperson of Maharashtra’s legislative council Neelam Gorhe waded in to summon an all-party meet of women leaders including the current incumbent women’s chairperson, whose resignation was being demanded for inaction. Gorhe, who had earlier suggested replacing the chairperson for her failure to provide sound guidance to the victim, instead patted the back of Chakankar. Instead administrative demands were sought like additional funding, vacant posts being filled and regular meetings being held. Not surprisingly, Gorhe, currently with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, had conveniently failed to summon politicians from her rival Uddhav Thackeray wing of Sena. Opposition women leaders did take a delegation to the Maharashtra governor but stopped at that. A high-profile suicide case with allegations of Fortuner SUV being demanded, of crores in dowry being given, of domestic violence meted to victim, thus disappeared away from headlines.

The investigation into the flooding that derails Mumbai every monsoon took a Bollywood twist with the entry of actor Dino Morea. Dino and his brother Santino spent two days of long hours of questioning at the Mumbai office of the Economic Offences Wing after being accused of indulging in financial irregularities in the desilting work of the critical Mithi river that runs through the heart of the city, flooding and derailing it every year. While the investigation against flooding in Mumbai against two companies, three brokers, five contractors and three civic officials, are essentially being perceived as attempts to target the Thackeray family that has been ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation uninterruptedly from 2005 to 2022, Dino landed in it thanks to recorded telephonic conversations with middlemen Ketan Kadam. Incidentally, this is not the first case where Dino has landed in legal trouble due to his association with Aaditya Thackeray. He has also been linked earlier in the Disha Salian murder case, chiefly by Nitesh Rane. The Rane’s and Thackeray’s share a turbulent relationship since the exit of family patriarch Narayan Rane’s from the original Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. Since then, they have been known to take potshots regularly at the Thackeray family right through Rane’s journey from Sena to Congress to BJP. Not surprisingly, Nitesh Rane, Maharashtra’s fisheries and port development minister, derisively termed Dino Morea as the daughter-in-law of the Thackeray residence Matoshree. Aaditya countered by pointing out to Dino’s Christmas celebration with prime minister Narendra Modi at his Delhi residence.

Alliance partners Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena (SS) and the BJP seem to be flexing over seats in the run-up to the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections in four months. The BMC is a high-stake election for both — while the BJP’s never had its own mayor thus far in Mumbai, for Shinde it’s a chance to chart out his own space. The BJP is aiming for 150 seats with Mission 150 proclaimed as its mission statement, Shinde is targeting 100 seats in the 227-strength of the BMC where 114 seats are needed to reach a majority. Shinde publicly claims the support of 65 corporators and is actively wooing ex-corporators beyond Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena. Shinde’s Sena has already started holding meetings with current and ex-corporators wooing them with promises of funds for works from his urban development and housing ministry and even from the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC), where being guardian minister of Mumbai City he is its chairman. Beyond the trappings of power, Shinde also holds the advantage of being an accessible leader unlike Uddhav Thackeray, a fact which he keeps harping on. Uddhav, who held the highest tally of 84 corporators that later extended to 90, had the BJP closely following him with 82 corporators, is now fighting them back with conciliatory notes to his cousin Raj Thackeray, who had seven corporators.

The induction of Chhagan Bhujbal as a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government is viewed as part of the gearing up for the forthcoming local bodies elections slated in the next four months. He becomes the eight member of the Other Backward Class (OBC) community to be part of the 43 ministerial team of the Devendra Fadnavis government. These include four OBC’s from the BJP, three from the NCP and one from the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. Bhujbal’s induction is meant to strengthen the OBC vote bank for the Mahayuti government. His role to woo the OBC vote bank becomes crucial since the Supreme Court ruled that 27% reservation of OBCs be retained in local body elections and his resurgence is also expected to provide a counterweight to the Maratha vote bank that is the mainstay of his faction of the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. Despite Bhujbal being left out in the cold since the Mahayuti government came to power in December 2024, he retained his independent identity as an OBC leader, never shying away from taking up the cause of the OBC community. He was among the first in the state to openly call for a Caste Census. From being pushed out of the race to be Nashik’s guardian minister to his current reinstatement as cabinet minister, Bhujbal’s has clearly shown how to play the waiting game and win.

In the post-Pahalgam scenario, while the entire Opposition had initially united in support behind the Narendra Modi government, Sanjay Raut turned out to be the first lone voice of dissent. Not content at just demanding Amit Shah’s resignation for his failure as home minister in preventing the Pahalgam attack, Raut also made snide remarks about state call for mock drills likening it to the call for banging of thalis during Covid. He also got his Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena to abstain from the all-party meet called on April 24. In the absence of Uddhav Thackeray, who is said to be vacationing in Europe, for which he earned some brickbats too for not cutting it short, it was left to veteran leader Sharad Pawar to tame him down. Pawar questioned his absence at the first all-party meet. Subsequently, Raut’s tune changed his tone. Not only did he turn up at the following all-party meet on May 8 chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Shah himself but also briefly muted his criticism of the Modi government. But this ceasefire too didn’t last long. He did a volte face on May 11; strongly demanded Shah’s resignation once again and even daring the PM to address an all-party meet. A considerably weakened Uddhav Thackeray, post the Sena split engineered by Eknath Shinde, is said to have given him a free hand. Despite being criticised, ridiculed and even despised for his daily-morning media bytes, earning him the sobriquet of “morning siren” , Raut has emerged as the lone ranger within his party, his alliance and even in the nation as the post-Pahalgam scenario revealed.

The game of one-upmanship between Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde and Maharashtra’s chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, that followed in the relief operations for the tourists affected by the Pahalgam terrorist attack, exposed the friction within Mahayuti government. Shinde duplicated the efforts of the Fadnavis government with his parallel visits and relief flights for the stranded tourists there. While Shinde was meeting tourists at Pahalgam, donating to the local Muslim victim and even holding parleys with Jammu and Kashmir’s deputy chief minister, Fadnavis was restricted to paying condolence visits to Pahalgam victim families at Pune. This wasn’t Shinde’s first attempt at duplication of governance; earlier too he had set up parallel medical relief funds in tandem with Fadnavis’ official ones. Shinde may have been cornered within Mahayuti with many of his decisions as CM either being withdrawn, stayed, kept in abeyance or simply rejected but he is not lying quiet and instead seizing the moment like he did at Pahalgam. He is also trying to assert himself as a Hindutva mascot and trying to usurp the advantage enjoyed by the Thackeray cousins even if they were to come together. Shinde’s attempt to carve out his own distinct identity in Fadnavis’ term, is clearly not going down with the man and the party at the helm. The BJP is clearly upset with Shinde’s attempt to hog the credit and not let the landslide majority government have its way. Shinde may be indispensable to the BJP in the run-up to the BMC polls to woo the Marathi manoos vote bank but remains to be seen how this open friction between Shinde and Fadnavis may play out for the Mahayuti in the forthcoming local elections.

A dog biting a man (and not vice versa), hit the headlines in Maharashtra reflecting on the way things have changed these days. A stray dog bit Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide, who heads the Shivpratishthan Hindustan. As the octogenarian Bhide, hit the hospital for treatment, the Sangli local municipal corporation launched a massive drive against stray dogs on the streets of Sangli. News channels not just reported about the dog bite and the resultant campaign but they also zoomed in visual shots of that particular dog that had bitten Bhide and had led to the furore in town. Some reports even suggested that the local civic administration had been working zealously overnight for almost 36 hours to track the particular dog that had bit the Hindutva leader, even as they detained some 10-12 dogs in the process. All this ado was enough to spark much sardonic commentary from the political class in the state. While Congress legislator Vijay Waddetiwar demanded a SIT inquiry be instituted on why a loyal animal like dog knew not whom he bit. Jitendra Awhad hoped that dogs in his area had the sense to bite some VIP in order to get the authorities to act. An advocate from Ulhasnagar, Jai Gaikwad offered to adopt the canine for his deed. Incidentally, this incident comes on the heels of the controversy over the statue of the pet dog of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Waghya, installed near Raigad Fort. While a scion of Shivaji had been demanding its removal citing no historical evidence about the dog’s existence, Bhide has been vociferous to let the dog’s statue be retained. Clearly, the Sangli stray dog did not know Bhide’s love and support for his fellow dog.

Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde currently enjoys a special place at the ruling BJP’s table, thanks to the key role he is scheduled to play in the forthcoming crucial BMC polls for them. A straight victory has evaded the BJP in the Rs 59,000-crore budget civic body till date. Politically too, winning the BMC polls for BJP has become crucial since dislodging Uddhav Thackeray from here would truly deliver a big blow to the Uddhav Thackeray Sena and decimate them. Not surprisingly, Amit Shah held a one-on-one with Eknath Shinde at Mumbai for a good half an hour without his own chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in attendance. Shinde has already got down to the task at hand and has been poaching Uddhav’s key supporters quite regularly. Shinde is using the opportunity to get his way around too. Shinde’s men have started grumbling about budgetary cuts introduced by the finance minister Ajit Pawar that have impacted their ministries. Shinde, who had funded many welfare schemes while as a CM, finds many of his schemes being curtailed, folded up or ignored by the Fadnavis government. His pet scheme, the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, still continues, albeit with many restrictions. Shinde also has Sanjay Raut breathing down his neck, comparing him to a goat with nowhere to go and awaiting his butchering. Unlike the Ajit Pawar’s of NCP, who have warmed up to each other, the Sena factions continue to a collision drive breathing fire and fury against each other. 

While Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) revived its campaign for Marathi language, this time targeting non-Marathi speaking bank officials, before chief minister Devendra Fadnavis got them to wind it up, the sober Uddhav Thackeray wing chose to do things differently. In response to Raj Thackeray’s agitation, Uddhav’’s Sena launched a drive to teach Marathi to those unfamiliar with the language. Party scion Aaditya Thackeray explained that this was for those unfamiliar with the Marathi language, particularly those working with MNC’s and those who have recently shifted to the city. For those unfamiliar with the party history, the Thackeray cousins essentially split up over their ways of taking up the cause of the Marathi manoos. In 2003, while Uddhav Thackeray had launched an inclusive ‘Mee Mumbaikar’ campaign to woo the North Indian voters, Raj Thackeray had derailed his campaign by attacking North Indian students appearing for railway exams in November 2003. Post-2006, when Raj Thackeray quit the Shiv Sena and set up MNS, he continued with his tirade beating hawkers, taxi drivers while Uddhav wooed the North Indians. The North Indians today comprise about 20% of Mumbai’s electorate making them an indispensable vote bank for all political parties in the forthcoming crucial BMC elections slated close to Diwali.  While Uddhav seeks to woo them, Raj has been trying to polarise his way into the hearts of the weakened 39 % Marathi manoos voter base. Their divergent views continue long after they have gone their own ways in different political parties. This probably explains why despite extending warm relations with each other in their private family functions, the Thackeray cousins fail to find common grounds for political reconciliation.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ return to power has been marred by regular hiccups with him struggling to duck one bouncer after another. Despite enjoying the support of over 82% or 238 MLAs of the total of 288 his second during the last four months has been anything but smooth. He is struggling to strike a balance between his inhouse support base and his ambitious coalition partners, NCP’s Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde. If sources are to be believed, a huge wave of discontent has been simmering within the BJP against Fadnavis, upset with the fruits of power being doled out to new entrants from other parties over the committed party’s old guard. The communal riots in Nagpur over Aurangzeb legacy has also portrayed Fadnavis in a bad light as he holds the home ministry. Fadnavis has been responding to attacks on him by unleashing diversionary vocal volleys resulting in a political slugfest with the political discourse getting muddy and murky. Nitesh Rane, Suresh Dhas may have been the most prominent face, but many non-political players like Anjali Damania, Rahul Solapurkar, Prashant Koratkar too have been actively raking up issues to stoke the political flames. Old graves are literally being dug up to wean away attention from the disturbing ground reality of huge unemployment, of ballooning state debts to Rs 9.2 lakh crores and widening caste frictions. With the crucial Mumbai municipal elections round the corner, it remains to be seen how Fadnavis manages to take on the Opposition against him, both from his own party and outside.

In Maharashtra, TV news channels are playing violent videos of men being bashed, either by the supporters of local Beed BJP legislator Suresh Dhas or from those opposing him. One of Dhas’s supporters was also seen showering stacks of currency notes from his car apart from stocking deer meat. Other videos showed men being bashed up with cricket bats. The videos started emerging after the resignation of Ajit Pawar aide minister Dhananjay Munde following videos of his supporters urinating over an almost-dead Santosh Deshmukh and even clicking selfies with his body. After the resignation of Munde, the law and order situation in Beed was expected to subside. Instead, a war of violent videos of party workers bashing individuals to prove which group is more cruel has started doing the rounds on social media and TV channels. Pankaja Munde has suggested a link between these allegations of violence since her rise as a minister. Pankaja has publicly claimed that she had complained to her party bosses about the way her home district was deliberately being kept on the boil, despite assurances. The Beed drama has now shifted from an inter-coalition campaign to a campaign against one from within the BJP with factionalism clearly out in the open. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who is believed to have unleashed his party MLA Dhas initially against Munde seems to have clearly shifted his target within his own party too. Dhas has accused Pankaja of siding with an independent candidate in the recent elections. Pankaja, recently shared stage with Sharad Pawar and his family at a Pawar-hosted event at Baramati, where she publicly praised him.

Just fresh from the resignation of a cabinet minister, and despite fissures within the ruling coalition, the Opposition in Maharashtra has failed to seize the opportunity that has presented itself before them. The resignation of Ajit Pawar aide Dhananjay Munde was not the result of any Opposition campaign but rather it was the result of inter-coalition disputes within the ruling alliance coming to the fore. Munde’s resignation was a result of a strong sustained campaign led by the BJP legislator Suresh Dhas meant to undermine the Ajit Pawar camp. The fodder for the accusation, that the irrigation department was being run on the whims of Fadnavis associate Mohit Kambhoj, was also said to be provided by intra-party elements within the BJP. That the Opposition could not even present a united picture during the traditional post-budgetary press conference was telling about the state of the Opposition in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray addressed it all alone with the Congress missing in action and their senior leaders restricting themselves to issuing statements while Sharad Pawar’s NCP representative Jayant Patil stuck to the TV debates. Uddhav’s decision to go alone in the forthcoming BMC elections, seems to have particularly peeved his coalition partners. Uddhav seems to have lost patience with his alliance partners. In the case of NCP, it seems to be busy dealing with its own internal schism between Rohit Pawar and Jayant Patil that had led to the party yet to declare its leader of legislative party. While Congress seems lost in its internal factionalism with strong leaders refusing to work with the new appointee state party president Harshavardhan Sapkal. Unlike the lacklustre Opposition, the ruling allies, in contrast, are actively working against each other, unsettling the majority Devendra Fadnavis 2.0 government.  

The Devendra Fadnavis 2.0 government got its way around in week one of its first budget session. Despite having to face the ignominy of resignation of a cabinet minister within three months of return to power, the Mahayuti government managed to get nothing on record on Dhananjay Munde’s resignation row. While the CM announced Munde’s resignation to media persons and not inside the assembly, Munde himself claimed in a tweet that he was quitting due to health reasons. This ensured that none of the gory details of the cruel murder of the Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, as captured in viral videos, that had triggered the resignation, entered the assembly records. The state also refused to put up a formal statement about it in the legislative assembly despite Opposition members moving a breach of privilege motion. Maha Vikas Aghadi  failed to get the Leader of the Opposition’s post when it chose to nominate an aggressive Bhaskar Jadhav over a fresher face like Aaditya Thackeray.  Similarly, to offset a slow growth rate of 7.3% as projected in the Economic Survey Report-2024-25, the Mahayuti government decided not to hike monthly stipend for women from Rs 1500 to Rs 2100 despite having promised in its election manifesto. Though it decided to continue with its populist schemes for now due to immense public pressure, the beneficiaries are being trimmed to ensure minimal burden on the state exchequer that is already reeling under a debt of over Rs 7.8 lakh crore. Strong laws against love jihad, religious conversions, social misinformation and even drunken unruly behaviour is also on the cards. The DF 2.0 government marks a term of strong aggressive, authoritarian governance with no room for Opposition sentiments. 

Irrespective of whether Aaditya Thackeray bags the post of leader of the opposition’s post in Maharashtra or not, Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena is pushing the envelope a bit far. Edged out by Eknath Shinde in the polls, Uddhav’s options are limited. Uddhav Sena with 20 seats, Congress 16 and Sharad Pawar’s NCP  10 seats, officially can’t claim the top slot. The Opposition does not even qualify for the LoP’s post, since none of the three parties have the requisite 28 seats or 10% of the 288 seats — the qualifying mark. Technically the ball is in the speaker’s court on whether to allow a Leader of the Opposition in the current situation but CM Devendra Fadnavis is said to be in favour of Aaditya. The other UBT Sena choice, six-time legislator Bhaskar Jadhav is too sharp and strong for the comfort of the ruling party. The soft-spoken Aaditya’s lack of experience — he is just on his 2nd term — could just help the ruling Mahayuti alliance tide over its own weak points. Despite having 237 seats, the Mahayuti has been on the backfoot over issues like reining in populist schemes, women’s safety, internal friction between ruling parties and even demand for resignation of two ministers over allegations of corruption and extortion attempt. Letting in Aaditya also helps snub Eknath Shinde, whom the BJP has been trying to clamp down for nursing ambition for the state’s top job. Shinde’s decisions are being overturned, cancelled or reviewed. A clearly upset Shinde has already started warming up to Sharad Pawar and even met up with Amit Shah to get his way around with Fadnavis. 

Maharashtra’s food and civil supplies minister Dhananjay Munde seems to be facing trouble on all fronts – professional, personal and health — providing fodder for his opponents. Now his partner Karuna Sharma nee Munde is once again back with a vengeance against him. In November 2024 in a video message, Karuna had accused Dhananjay of jailing her on false charges, getting her assaulted by his aides in collector’s office, and even booking entire hotels for having a good time. The volatile relationship between the Munde couple, who have two children, has spilled over into much action on the local political front in Beed. In 2024 she floated a political outfit, Swarajya Shakti Sena. She also contested against Pankaja Munde in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Beed but garnered only 1600 votes. Clearly, the hatred for her husband runs deeper and she responded to news of Munde ailing with Bell’s Palsy by demanding that he be treated in a public hospital casting aspersion on the timing of the ailment. Though Karuna Sharma’s diatribe against Munde isn’t new, it now assumes political significance with her joining the cause with the likes of Munde baiters like BJP legislator Suresh Dhas, Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil, activist Anjali Damania and his party opponents, Supriya Sule. Karuna claims that she’s always kept Sharad Pawar updated about her various complaints against Dhananjay Munde from time to time. Not surprisingly, Supriya Sule is the only politician who has entertained her and heard her out. The only silver lining for Dhananjay is that his son from Karuna, Seeshiv, has officially stepped up in support of his father calling him responsible and financially supportive. 

Maharashtra keeps proving that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. So, the BJP which had launched a vociferous diatribe against Ajit Pawar’s Dhananjay Munde in Beed through its local legislator Suresh Dhas there, suddenly mediated a peace meet between them signalling de-escalations in political tensions on that front. Maharashtra reeled in a shock when Dhas admitted to dropping in to check up on Munde’s health following a surgery after spending weeks accusing his aides of extortion and murder. Uddhav too has started warming up to BJP chief minister Devendra Fadnavis prompting talks of a BJP-Sena alliance after calling each other names like Fadtus and Kadtus to each other. Fadnavis though met up with his cousin Raj Thackeray sparking talks of BJP aligning with him. Uddhav’s bete noire Eknath Shinde, on the other hand, displayed signs of warming up to Sharad Pawar. Sharad Pawar played a masterstroke by publicly felicitating Shinde, praising him and clearly dropping out Uddhav Thackeray from his books like a hot potato. Shinde these days is already having an upper hand with Operation Tiger; he intends to poach Uddhav’s three MPs. Ajit Pawar has already started attending events with the senior Pawar on the dais sparking talks of both the NCP factions warming up to each other. Amidst all these shifts and readjustments, probably to gear up for the forthcoming local body polls, the Congress is the only party which finds itself left lonely to nurse its wounds all alone. 

Armed with a landslide majority in Maharashtra, the BJP, it is learnt, is now strongly pushing its coalition partners up against the wall. Not only has it launched a strong attack against Ajit Pawar’ party deputy leader Dhananjay Munde but it is keeping Eknath Shinde on the edge too. While the knives have been sharpened against controversial minister Dhananjay Munde demanding his resignation for the alleged involvement of his aide in the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. Munde and his party have been resisting and fighting it against all odds. While Ajit Pawar may have strongly backed Munde for now, he realises that the BJP may not stop at him and could launch fresh salvo against his other deputies. Hence, Pawar has directed his men to maintain a clean slate and even demanded that freshers be vetted before giving entry in his party. His contemporary, Eknath Shinde too is not having it easy with BJP ministers like Ganesh Naik eyeing his Thane stronghold and launching a worker engagement campaign clearly with an eye on the forthcoming local body polls. While Shinde chose to brush aside concerns, his workers have threatened to do a quid pro quo by launching similar exercises in BJP’s constituencies. Shinde did not attend the cabinet meeting last week, while Munde is believed to have left mid-way. The BJP strategy seems to be to keep the coalition partners constantly on the edge.

Access to Mantralaya, Maharashtra’s state secretariat, is scheduled to get tighter in Devendra Fadnavis regime 2.0. Glass flap barrier gates are being installed at various entrances to control access of visitors along with introduction of RFID and facial recognition access in high-security zones at Mantralaya. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankhule has already written to his party cadres to coordinate with ministers through liaison officials, who will be sitting at the BJP office. The BJP ministers too have also been asked to hold weekly or fortnightly janata durbars at the party office. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party too are expected to follow suit and facilitate a similar policy for their party workers from their party offices. The idea is to reduce footfalls at Mantralaya as also to rein in middle-men, who tend to approach ministers for favours like transfers of officials or to bag contracts. Ajit Pawar has already asked his cadres to not seek transfers of officials or contracts, particularly if they are going to sub-contract the work to others. Maharashtra’s earlier chief minister Eknath Shinde prided on being known as a common man’s CM and believed in open access attracting huge delegations of party workers flocking to him at Mantralaya regularly. The legislative assembly sessions under Shinde were known to be particularly crowded with ministers complaining of not even being able to walk properly in the crowded corridors of Vidhan Bhavan. Since Fadnavis’ taking over, he has first shifted the CM’s public relations officials on the lower fifth floor, already truncating access of journalists to the CM’s office. Looks like Fadnavis has taken a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s playbook.

Uncertainty and instability seems to be the hallmark of Maharashtra politics these days. Over two months since a majority government took charge in Maharashtra, insecurity and uncertainty persists over further splits in the Opposition. While the Opposition is on the edge with talks of their elected representatives crossing over to the treasury, the coalition partners are equally on tenterhooks owing to their inability to work freely due to many restrictions placed. Rampant rumours of switching sides and crossing over, be it of Sharad Pawar’s men or even Uddhav Thackeray over to the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has been doing the rounds for some time now. Just when these talks of political shifts had subsided, another buzz was created about how the BJP was engineering a split in Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena by pitchforking another of his deputy, industries minister Uday Samant, who instantly issued denial from Davos. Ajit Pawar’s deputy Chhagan Bhujbal cuddling up to Amit Shah, who regularly drops in at Maharashtra to personally oversee affairs in state, is said to be just the tip of the iceberg.   Eknath Shinde who has been sulking since his demotion from CM’s post, is now upset with his ministers being bypassed for guardian ministership in two districts, Raigad and Nashik. His supporters went on a rampage to protest by burning tyres and blocking highways demanding the posts. Constant bickering and frictions between coalition partners over ministerial berths, portfolios, bungalows and now guardian ministerships seem to have become a hallmark of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis 2.0 term. To placate forces within his own party he created new posts like joint guardian ministers to accommodate Ashish Shelar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Saner voices of reason like Supriya Sule have claimed that the tensions in government were deliberately being stoked in the state, to divert attention from pressing challenges facing the state like inflation, unemployment, corruption etc.

In the absence of a leader of opposition in Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti’s dominant party, the BJP seems to have taken up the mantle of the Opposition’s role upon itself. Leading the attack against the lawlessness in Beed and raking up issues of corruption and extortion is none other than BJP’s own legislator, Suresh Dhas. Beed has been on the boil for weeks after a campaign against Dhananjay Munde and his aide Walmik Karad met up with large-scale violent reaction. Sanjay Raut (Uddhav Sena) has alluded that the entire Beed saga is a Fadnavis operation to cleanse the local political scene there. Local police officers have been transferred, gun licenses cancelled, corruption cases dug out as part of this operation. However, the central party leadership of the BJP particularly Amit Shah continues to be in the loop and maintains a hawk’s eye about the ongoing situation in the state. That the entire political situation playing out in Beed also has the Centre’s blessing is evident from the fact that leaders like Pankaja Munde and even Ajit Pawar, who have strong stakes in the local politics of Beed, have met and discussed the situation directly with Shah himself. The main accused Walmik Karad was slapped with the strong MCOCA Act, a day before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Mumbai and briefed the state’s legislators. The man at the centre of the current political storm, NCP’s Dhananjay Munde was kept out of this crucial meeting with the PM. Though Munde has managed to retain his ministerial berth without resigning despite the controversy, he has been considerably weakened politically with his own leader Ajit Pawar disbanding his party’s entire team of office-bearers in Beed.

Maharashtra’s deputy CM Eknath Shinde may be officially sulking but he sure knows how to get his way around with the BJP’s top bosses. After having bagged nine plum cabinet berths and two ministers of state apart from key portfolios like Urban Development, housing and public works department for himself, he has now clearly emerged as the No 2 in the Maharashtra government next only to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. It is worth noting that while senior ministers like Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Girish Mahajan are left dangling with half split portfolios with them, Shinde has managed to bag important ministries like industries, public health, education etc for his supporters. Shinde also continues to retain his value for the BJP. This was evident recently when he met up with the top trio of the BJP during his Delhi stopover en route to Kashmir for a family holiday. Prime minister Narendra Modi is believed to have granted him an audience for over an hour where the duo are believed to have discussed the significant Mumbai municipal corporation polls. The one-to-one meet with PM Modi clearly highlights that Shinde continues to be a significant partner for the BJP and is expected to play a key role in cutting down the Marathi electorate stronghold of Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai. He is also expected to play a key role in the significant Dharavi Redevelopment Project, thanks to his holding the dual portfolios of housing and urban development, that could come in handy for industrialist Gautam Adani, known for his proximity to Modi.

After having successfully decimated the opposition and weakened its allies, the BJP now seems strongly focussed on its target to achieve Shat Pratishat Bhajapa or cent per cent BJP rule in Maharashtra by 2029. Not content at this, there is buzz of Operation Lotus at work to poach Opposition MP’s to strengthen BJP’s government at the Centre. After successfully splitting and routing the opposition enough to be ineligible to get their own leader in the state assembly, the BJP’s own allies are now feeling the pressure to chart their own course in state. For starters, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already taken things into his own hands, including that of determining ministerial allocations of his alliance partners. Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde have been asked to share the names of their nominees with Shah to get his clearances for the same. Shah has rejected ministerial berths of two of Shinde’s nominees. The delay in distribution of ministries and portfolios in Maharashtra has been attributed to Shah personally overseeing all such decisions of the new government. Though Shinde has been putting up a tough fight to get good portfolios for himself and his party members, his body language continues to be that of a dejected soldier. The image of a sulking Shinde right next to a beaming Shah and Devendra Fadnavis is a symbolic picture of him not getting his way around and under duress in the BJP term. The second alliance partner, Ajit Pawar though seems happy enough for now, content at having trounced his uncle in his own backyard, to bag his party and legacy. It’s anybody’s guess if these alliance partners will be retained or tamed or simply engulfed in toto en route to the next state elections in 2029.

With the Mahayuti government finally managing to better their own targeted victory in 2024 Maharashtra elections, the focus has now shifted on the flagship program — the Ladki Bahin Yojana scheme. The scheme, which was introduced just six months prior to elections to get a vantage advantage and tide over factors like agrarian distress, unemployment, caste reservation rift, anti-incumbency etc has clearly served the purpose and now it was time for reality check. In his very first press briefing post taking over, third time chief minister Devendra Fadnavis confirmed that 24.3 million beneficiaries would be scanned to prune out those ineligible, clearly hinting at a lax scrutiny followed earlier in the rush of electoral generosity.  The BJP’s former finance minister Sudhir Mungatiwar had already said that the promised hike of stipend amount to Rs 2100 could happen only later in the fiscal year around Bhau beej. Fadnavis also said that financial assessment was in order before the promised stipend hike. Ex-CM Eknath Shinde, however, is determined that promises be kept and said that officials have been asked to disburse the December instalment. State bureaucrats have already been waiting for the election to get over to get into tighter fiscal discipline mode to face the reality of Rs 7.8 lakh crore of debts that Maharashtra currently faces. Babus fear that such largesse in welfare spendings could derail government spendings and functioning.

There seems to be no end to turbulent times in Maharashtra’s politics despite the people voting in the Mahayuti alliance with a thumping majority. Despite the landslide victory, thanks to cracks developed, the next few years promise some unpredictable times thanks to the BJP misjudging the nature of Eknath Shinde. Three years back when the BJP catapulted Shinde to the top job in state, he was expected to work in the background like he had always done in the united Shiv Sena. His ascendance as CM saw him assume a larger than life image thanks to his penchant to meeting people day and night right till the crack of dawn. His generosity in doling out public funds to the public, has reaped in historical and record breaking results. The BJP is discovering the hard way that Shinde is no pushover and they are having a tough time handling him. From demanding the CM’s seat promised to him to refusing to play deputy to his erstwhile deputy Devendra Fadnavis to insisting on having the powerful home portfolio, Shinde is a tough nut to crack despite Ajit Pawar’s tame surrender giving the BJP a strong upper hand on the negotiating table. A sulking Shinde would validate the BJP’s use and throw policy. Not something they want at a time when it needs him to decimate Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena in their Mumbai bastion. Shinde’s reluctance to play second fiddle to Fadnavis or any fresh CM’s face doesn’t promise a smooth term here on, in the state.

A clean sweep for the BJP could pave the way for the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls in the state. Elections for India’s richest civic body and politically significant Mumbai city had been kept in abeyance for over two years to prevent Uddhav Thackeray from getting the upper hand in Maharashtra. The BMC, with a budget of over Rs 52,000 crore, had been UBT’s major source of its political and financial clout for decades, making him a dominating force in Mumbai. The Sena had been accusing the BJP of being too scared to take polls in Mumbai. But after a sharp drubbing of Uddhav in the state polls, the gates could now be open for the BMC polls along with the various pending local body polls. The BJP, it seems has got into the act. It’s launching a membership drive for the party, clearly to wrest control of the BMC, which has a huge corpus of over Rs 80,000 crore. The BJP has other factors working for it too. Though the Shiv Sena won the highest number of elected corporators with 84 seats, the BJP was quite close to it with 82 seats in 2017. Mumbai’s sharp demographics shift — with the Maharashtrians being reduced to less than 39% of the population of Mumbai, could work to the advantage of the BJP. After this assembly poll drubbing, it remains to be seen how the politically and financially weakened Thackeray’s Shiv Sena rises up to fight against the BJP in the forthcoming city elections, its last bastion left.

Broad hints of post-election realignments have raised fears that the new Maharashtra government formation will be a long drawn complicated one. Rapprochement vibes are already being noticed from both sides of the Pawar family. While Ajit Pawar swung into action to berate an indignant remark against his uncle Sharad Pawar, his confidants like Dilip Walse Patil and Nawab Malik have been dropping hints that their legislators could swing any ways post-results. The Sharad Pawar faction too seems to have thawed relations and preparing ground for readjustments attributing their partymen exits and party split to ED threats. While Supriya Sule has already stated that there is no familial rift with Ajit Pawar, Nawab Malik has been saying that Ajit Pawar’s support will be critical for any combination that seeks to form the next government. Amit Shah throwing in his weight behind Devendra Fadnavis, at this juncture marks the BJP’s need to consolidate its own vote share in the run up to a fractured verdict. Political scientists like Prof Suhas Palshikar have predicted that a large number of independent legislators could win this time around, adding to post-election instability. Since most of these MLA’s winning on the basis of local caste equations will have weak party affiliations, it makes them susceptible to swing in any direction. Drawing parallels to Maharashtra’s ‘moment of fragmentation’ in 1995 when over 30 plus rebels won elections, Palshikar feels the poll results are unlikely to settle the dust from a scenario emerging from splits, factions, new parties and fronts thus ensuring victory for those who can command less than a lakh votes.

The Eknath Shinde era marks the ushering in a cash-rich governance period in Maharashtra. Shinde’s term has been marked by huge disbursements from the state exchequer at a time when the state faces debts of Rs 7.8 lakh crore. His government rolled out social welfare schemes worth over Rs 90,000 crore including the flagship program of Ladki Bahin Yojana that is set to cost Rs 46,000 crore per annum. His government is also known for generous land allocations; be it of 1080 acres across Mumbai to the Adani group for Dharavi’s redevelopment, or even to random groups like Jain International Organization, who were allocated prime land near Mantralaya despite finance ministry objections. The huge cash seizures in this election needs to be viewed against this backdrop. Already, over Rs 180 crore worth of drugs, gold, liquor including cash have already been seized by the election department. Uddhav Sena’s Sanjay Raut, known for his daily morning commentary, claimed that the Maharashtra chief minister has committed to providing Rs 75 crore to each Shiv Sena candidate. Police seized cash of Rs 5 crore cash on October 21 from a car at Khalapur toll point (outskirt of Mumbai) which Raut alleges were meant for a Shinde legislator’s election campaign. Sharad Pawar claims that police vehicles are being used to distribute cash for election campaigns. In a state facing agrarian crisis and rising unemployment numbers, Shinde has launched a strong election pitch that his welfare schemes could be scrapped by the opposition if they get voted in.  Will the pre-election carrots work in favour of the common man’s CM, as Shinde likes to be known, now remains to be seen!  

After much tossing around, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has decided to go to polls without any face to present the picture of an united front. Post-Haryana debacle, the Congress clipped wings of its multiple strong leaders and has sent a message to its cadres to work together and not heed to the various factions at play. State Congress president Nana Patole did try to showcase himself for the top slot, but was cut to size by Delhi. Though Uddhav Thackeray has been consistently trying to project himself to be the CM face, his coalition partners are convinced that he no longer commands the strength of numbers. His bete noire, chief minister Eknath Shinde may be leading the Mahayuti alliance in the polls but there is no guarantee he will become the CM. He was apparently reminded by Amit Shah that he remains the CM only because of the BJP’s sacrifice of not claiming the seat. The BJP cadres are already upset at the BJP leadership for letting Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit Shinde’s constituency Thane, over the BJP’s own strongholds. The BJP has been struggling with constraints to retain the Maratha vote bank and fear that projecting a Brahmin leader like Devendra Fadnavis could backfire against them. Fadnavis no longer commands clout in his own party like he once did. Ajit Pawar, who was once tipped to be CM when he split from his uncle Sharad Pawar to join the ruling Mahayuti, cuts a sorry figure today and is no longer in the reckoning for the top seat. 

The Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra held over five cabinet meetings in the span of the first fortnight of October and took over 200 decisions. This was the sprint before the code of conduct got enforced on October 15, 2024. In fact, even the death of Ratan Tata, that had the state observe a day of mourning, did not dissuade Shinde from not holding a cabinet. There was rapid fire decision-making with two cabinet meetings witnessing almost 71 decisions and even 80 decisions each. The chief minister has been over-generous and liberal in doling out freebies, sops and financial allocations in a bid to earn brownie points in the forthcoming elections forcing the opposition to claim that the state treasury was being emptied to woo voters by Shinde. Maharashtra already has debts of over Rs 7 lakh crore and the Ladki Bahin Yojana is expected to bleed it further. Concerns are already being raised about the feasibility of Shinde’s schemes be it the launching of multiple corporations considering that CAG report had claimed that most corporations were not functioning well. In fact, Shinde’s generosity in financial disbursements goes beyond the confines of the state. Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP has got Shinde to fund elections in other states like that of Haryana and that each of the probable candidates were being doled out Rs 20 crore by Shinde. The average Mumbaikar is happy that the toll fee at the five entry points has stopped for now. Whether this will convert into votes for Shinde remains to be seen.

The safety net atop the quadrangle at Maharashtra’s secretariat Mantralaya is emerging as the protesters’ new hot spot. Jumping into the safety net has become a surefire way to highlight issues with the Eknath Shinde-led government. Raj Thackeray, known for his sharp jibes, termed it as a circus when state deputy speaker and tribal leader Narhari Zirwal jumped on to the nets along with three other legislators on October 4, to protest against the Dhangar (shepherd community) from being considered for reservations under ST quota. This sparked threats of more protest jumps by OBC leader Prakash Shengde if demands were not met. Shendge’s supporters followed suit by jumping on the safety net for their demands for reservations four days later on October 8. The Mantralaya has been witnessing protests of varying kinds forcing security staff at Mantralaya to keep banning new things. Earlier when a protestor tried to immolate himself, water bottles got banned for visitors. Another protest of throwing pamphlets on the protective net, sparked bans on bringing in any kind of pamphlets particularly bearing pictures of political leaders. The safety net itself came into being following threats of protesters to jump from the secretariat building to press for their demands. These protests show the urgent desperation to catch the government’s attention with state elections set to be announced soon. Shinde is known for being accessible and entertaining visitors till early hours of the dawn at times. Shinde has been fast tracking cabinet clearances with a vengeance — taking more than 100 decisions in just three cabinet meetings in the span of just a week.

By pushing for a demand to raise the state quota for reservation limit to 75 %, Sharad Pawar has put the BJP in a quandary. Acceding to this demand could prove counterproductive for the BJP against its own OBC support base. The quota for reservation has upset the BJP core constituency of the other backward classes (OBC), which is upset at the Marathas wanting a share from their reservation pie and are vehemently opposing it. The BJP, which bore the brunt of the reservation agitation in the 2024 Lok Sabha results (won 9 out of the 28 seats in Maharashtra) had granted reservations for the Maratha community, hoping to woo the significant Maratha vote bank. Getting the Maratha Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, on their side, was also part of this strategy. Yet, now far from getting the Maratha support, it finds itself struggling to wriggle out of its repercussions. The Marathas continue to be upset with the BJP, particularly with its leader Devendra Fadnavis for not ensuring a legal-proof reservation insisting that only being added in the OBC bandwagon, could help withstand legal scrutiny. The Marathas anger for being lathi-charged and rioting cases against them not being withdrawn, also continues. Manoj Jarange Patil continues to spit fire on BJP and threatens to scuttle their chances in this election.  Pawar, who himself has led Maharashtra four times as a CM, was clearly well aware of the pitfalls of yielding to reservations demands of Marathas, and managed to sidestep it during his regime. The wily Pawar seems to be having the last laugh for now.