Mumbai Mayor Race Shifts to Delhi Amid Mahayuti Power Struggle

From Mumbai’s municipal corridors to the political power centres of Delhi, the battle for the Mumbai Mayor’s post has escalated into a high-stakes confrontation within the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

The internal fissures surfaced soon after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results, exposing sharp differences between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

According to political sources, Shiv Sena corporators aligned with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ended their much-discussed “hotel politics” and checked out after a three-day stay, following firm intervention by the BJP’s central leadership.

The BJP is reportedly holding the Shinde faction responsible for the alliance’s underwhelming performance. Party insiders claim that Shinde’s Sena contested 90 seats but managed to win only 29, while the BJP secured 89 victories out of the 135 seats it contested.

BJP leaders argue that had the party been allowed to contest a larger number of seats, it could have comfortably crossed the 100-seat mark, strengthening its claim over the Mayor’s post.

The Shinde camp, however, has pushed back strongly against these allegations. Leaders from the faction claim they were forced to contest difficult seats, including several Muslim-majority constituencies, due to insufficient backing from BJP’s grassroots cadre.

According to the Shinde camp, the lack of coordinated campaigning resulted in the faction losing at least 11 seats by narrow margins.

With the deadlock deepening, a high-level meeting has been scheduled in Delhi to resolve the dispute. Senior Shinde loyalists — former MP Rahul Shewale, MP Shrikant Shinde and MP Shrirang Barne — are expected to negotiate with BJP’s Mumbai president Amit Satam and cabinet minister Ashish Shelar.

The talks will focus on finalising not just the Mayor’s post, but also control over key civic committees such as the Standing Committee, Improvement Committee, Health Committee and Education Committee.

Meanwhile, the opposition has seized the moment to launch a sharp political offensive. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticised the developments, calling them an affront to Marathi pride and alleging that it is unprecedented for Mumbai’s Mayor to be effectively chosen in Delhi.

Congress leader Nana Patole also raised questions over democratic processes, suggesting that the January 22 mayoral lottery could expose further political manipulation within the ruling alliance.

As negotiations shift to the national capital, the outcome of the Mumbai Mayor race is likely to test not just alliance arithmetic, but also the cohesion of the Mahayuti government.