Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday tried to put an end to speculation and rumours surrounding the tussle over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) mayor’s post. He stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had "no conflict" with Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, firmly denying differences within the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
The CM added that the mayor will be selected after he returns to Mumbai. “There is no problem. We fought the election together and there is no conflict. Once I go back to Mumbai, we will decide who will get the post," CM Fadnavis told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"All this is rumour. For the post of mayor or any other post, we don’t have to fight because the people have given us a mandate," he said on reports of a phone call with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
What's The BMC Number Game?
In the 227-seat BMC, 114 votes are needed to elect the Mayor. The Mahayuti alliance may easily cross this mark. However, the opposition might also enter the race as they fell short of just six seats.
In the BMC elections, the BJP got 89 seats and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena got 29 seats. The Mahayuti alliance has secured a total of 118 seats, and only 114 votes are needed to elect the Mayor. But, there's a twist in the story.
Shiv Sena (UBT) won only 65 wards in the elections. Sanjay Raut says that the combined strength of all the opposition parties reaches 108. Therefore, with the support of 6 councillors, the opposition can also reach the majority mark.
Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had also formed an alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT). The MNS secured 6 seats. In addition, the Congress, in alliance with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, won 24 seats. Meanwhile, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM party won 8 seats. The Samajwadi Party secured 2 seats, Ajit Pawar's NCP won 3 seats, and Sharad Pawar's NCP got 1 seat. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is part of the Mahayuti alliance, but he had decided to contest the BMC elections separately.