Bhiwandi Mayor Is A BJP Rebel, Splits Ruling Mahayuti

Bhiwandi near Mumbai is a communally sensitive town. It has been in the news after the recent civic election in Bhiwandi had dispensed a mixed mandate and political permutations and combinations were cooking for the past few days. Ultimately, the BJP has turned out to be the loser in the mayoral election, which it lost miserably. Interestingly, there is no communal angle to this contest but the loss is due to the power play between the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde), the two main partners of the ruling Mahayuti in the state. As neither party was ready to relent, BJP’s Narayan Choudhary deserted it and teamed up with Bhiwandi Secular Front, which is opposing the saffron forces. The cause of this decision was that he was refused mayoral candidate by the BJP, which fielded Sneha Patil. An angry Chaudhary was supported by six BJP rebels, 30 Congress members and 12 of the NCP(SP). His tally of 48 against Patil’s 16 has shown the BJP in poor light since it failed to woo former mayor Vilas Patil, whose Konark Front won 25 votes, a dozen from the Shiv Sena led by deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Thus, failure to forge a strategic alliance has cost Mahayuti an important municipal corporation in Maharashtra. Moreover, the Congress is in a celebratory mood for humbling the BJP, which has threatened to take stern action against the rebels. Congress corporator Tariq Momin has been elected deputy mayor with a comfortable majority.