Mumbai: With speculation rife that the pending local body elections will be held later this year in Maharashtra, questions are being raised over whether the Mahayuti partners will contest these polls as an alliance or independently.
Amid this uncertainty, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appear to be strengthening their presence in each other’s strongholds within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
This competitive positioning is now playing out as a turf war between two senior Mahayuti ministers—Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Forest Minister Ganesh Naik.
Shinde in Navi Mumbai
Thane, a long-standing Shiv Sena bastion, has been Eknath Shinde’s stronghold for years. The undivided Shiv Sena held control over the local body for 25 years. During the last Lok Sabha elections, Naresh Mhaske—a close confidant of Shinde—won the Thane seat with a margin exceeding 2.17 lakh votes. Shinde’s own Kopari-Pachpakhadi assembly constituency falls under Thane. He also served as Thane’s guardian minister for over a decade, reinforcing his grip on the region.
On Tuesday, Shinde led a ‘Nirdhar Rally’ (translated as ‘Determination Rally’) in Navi Mumbai’s Vashi. Addressing the crowd, he said several City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) projects had stalled in Navi Mumbai and vowed to get them completed.
“For the past year or so, many CIDCO projects have been delayed. There are issues of water, land — we will ensure these are resolved. I will sanction whatever funds are required,” said Shinde at the rally.
As part of efforts to expand Shiv Sena’s influence in Navi Mumbai, Shinde also inducted 13 former corporators from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) into the party during the rally.
Shiv Sena insiders told ThePrint that the party is keen to strengthen its base in Navi Mumbai with the aim of capturing power in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
“The BJP is trying to expand its base, so why should we not do the same? If they enter our territory, we can go into theirs too,” said a Shiv Sena functionary, requesting anonymity.
However, Shiv Sena denied that the rally was a counter to Ganesh Naik’s outreach in Thane.
“He has the right to expand his base, and so do we. It is not a question of tit for tat. We are simply trying to grow our party,” said Member of Parliament Naresh Mhaske.
Also Read: From Dombivali & Pune to Panvel, Maharashtra mourns as kin bid last goodbye to Pahalgam victims
Naik in Thane
Ganesh Naik, a five-time Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), remains a political heavyweight in Navi Mumbai and also wields considerable influence in Thane and neighbouring Raigad districts. He was formerly with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from its inception in 1999, before quitting ahead of the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections to join the BJP.
In the 2024 elections, Naik retained his seat with ease. However, his son Sandip Naik—who had switched to the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) (NCP(SP))—lost to BJP’s Manda Mhatre.
Naik, credited with introducing the ‘Janta Darbar’ (public hearing) concept in Maharashtra in the 1990s, has revived the format this year. In a break from convention, Naik held public hearings in areas beyond his constituency—including Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli, Badlapur, and Ambernath—all considered Shinde’s territory.
“There is no permanent dominance over any city. Leadership changes, public sentiments change, and so does control over regions,” Naik had stated.
He denied any intent of political one-upmanship, asserting that the aim of the Janta Darbars was to resolve citizens’ grievances locally without forcing them to travel long distances.
Earlier, Shiv Sena minister Pratap Sarnaik had announced plans to host a Lok Darbar in Palghar, for which Naik is the guardian minister. Sarnaik said that if holding Janta Darbars is permissible, then he too would organise one — which he did on 9 April.
Behind-the-scenes political calculations
Political analysts view the growing activity in each other’s turf as preparation for a likely solo contest in the upcoming local body elections.
“For the local body elections, every party will test its own strength. This is just groundwork. Most likely they will contest separately, but they will ensure the alliance remains intact at the state level,” said political analyst Abhay Deshpande.
Prakash Akolkar, another analyst, believes that Naik’s aggressive outreach in Shinde’s bastion could not have happened without top-level BJP support.
“Amit Shah has already given a clarion call of ‘Shat Pratishat BJP’ (100% BJP). To achieve this, BJP wants control over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC),” said Akolkar.
According to Akolkar, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is leveraging this situation to fuel competition within the alliance.
“There is already a cold war between Fadnavis and Shinde. So Fadnavis is possibly encouraging Naik to go aggressively against Shinde in Thane. Capturing power centres like BMC and TMC is critical for BJP,” he added.
A BJP functionary also told ThePrint that the party is gaining ground in Thane and surrounding areas.
“There is no rivalry between allies. But during the assembly elections, people voted for us — so naturally, we must expand. Every party is free to grow wherever they wish,” said the functionary.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also Read: Uddhav, Raj hint at uniting ‘for Maharashtra’. Will it be a Thackeray redux or yet another paper tiger
