In a blistering broadside, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction has condemned the unanimous selection of Ritu Tawde, a BJP corporator, as Mumbai’s mayor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The party’s ‘Saamana’ editorial portrayed this as a calculated conspiracy against Marathi manoos, calling it a tragic day that wounds the soul of Maharashtra.
Accusations flew thick and fast: the BJP, they charged, favors tycoons and wealthy traders, setting the stage for land grabs that benefit outsiders at the expense of locals. This victory, Shiv Sena UBT argued, casts a sinister shadow over decades of Marathi struggles for Mumbai’s control. They reminisced about the United Maharashtra agitation, equating BJP’s tactics to the violent crackdowns ordered by Morarji Desai.
The editorial revealed how BJP allegedly exploited cracks in the Marathi vote bank and poured rivers of cash to clinch the mayor’s chair, preventing a ‘pure Marathi’ leader from Shiv Sena UBT from taking helm. Had their side won, they claimed, Mumbai’s resources would have been safeguarded from plunder.
Dismissing Tawde’s vows for a cleaner, safer city, the piece mocked her ambitions as beyond her reach. It lambasted the Fadnavis-led home department for women’s safety lapses, implicating failures in deporting illegal immigrants. Over the past four years under administrators, a so-called Gujarat nexus reportedly drained BMC coffers with phantom projects, billing crores for non-existent work and diverting massive commissions.
Shiv Sena UBT urged Tawde to unearth these scams or step aside for the opposition to wage the battle. With this power shift, Mumbai’s civic politics braces for pitched battles over identity, corruption, and urban governance.