Shiv Sena sets up 21-member panel under Shinde for BMC elections

Mumbai, Sep 10 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Wednesday decided to constitute a 21-member "Chief Executive Committee" to strategise and take important decisions for the coming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

The party head and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will lead the committee, and it will consist of some senior Shiv Sena leaders, current and former MLAs, and MPs. The party is a part of the state's ruling Mahayuti coalition led by the BJP.

Elections for the BMC, the country's wealthiest civic body with a budget of Rs 74,427 crore for the 2025-2026 fiscal, have been due since March 2022.

Additionally, elections are also pending for numerous other rural and urban local government bodies across Maharashtra.

The committee consists of senior party leaders and former ministers like Ramdas Kadam, Anandrao Adsul, Gajanan Kirtikar. Members of Parliament Shrikant Shinde, Milind Deora, Ravindra Waikar, MLAs Prakash Surve, Ashok Patil, Dilip Lande, Tukaram Kate, Mangesh Kudalkar, Murji Patel, MLC Manish Kayande are also part of the 21-member panel.

Former MP Rahul Shewale, ex-MLAs Sada Sarvankar, Yamini Jadhav and Shishir Shinde, too, have found a place in the committee.

The last BMC elections took place in 2017, when the Shiv Sena was a united political entity under the leadership of former CM Uddhav Thackeray. In that elections, the united Shiv Sena won 84 out of 227 seats, followed by the BJP with 82 seats.

The united Shiv Sena has ruled the BMC for nearly two decades.

The usual tenure of the BMC's elected representatives (corporators) is five years, but the elections could not be held in 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. They were further postponed because of political instability in the state, which led to the toppling of the then-Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena suffered a split in June 2022 when Shinde and MLAs loyal to him challenged the leadership of Thackeray. Shinde is now in the ruling bloc, while Thackeray, a former BJP ally, is in the Opposition with the Congress and the NCP (SP).

While no dates for holding of BMC elections have been announced so far, a buzz in the political circles indicates they could be held early next year. PTI PR SKL RSY