Mumbai’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced on Thursday that the next mayor

Mumbai’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced on Thursday that the next mayor of Mumbai will be from the Shiv Sena party. This decision follows discussions with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, confirming that Shiv Sena will hold the mayor’s position for one-and-a-quarter years after the current term of BJP corporator Ritu Tawde, who has been serving as mayor for the past two-and-a-half years.

The BJP would then get the post for the remaining one-and-a-quarter years, he said. Shinde added that the arrangement had also been assured to Shiv Sena during Mahayuti coordination committee discussions.

On redevelopment, Shinde said redevelopment of old buildings and slums was a government programme that would generate a large number of homes and ensure that mill workers would not have to move out of Mumbai. He said that once the city’s sewage treatment projects are completed, they would not only address sewage disposal but also enable treated wastewater to be converted into potable water. Preventing untreated sewage from entering the sea would also help reduce marine pollution, he said. He said the responsibility of strengthening the party’s presence in the city had been entrusted to four leaders — MP Shrikant Shinde, former MP Rahul Shewale, deputy chairman Sachin Ahir and minister of state Yogesh Kadam.

Shinde indicated that the Shiv Sena has drawn up a strategy to expand its political footprint in Mumbai.

He said work on around 1,800 km of roads had been completed, bringing the annual expenditure on pothole repairs down from Rs 400-450 crore earlier to around Rs 25 crore. The announcement is significant as the BJP, with support from Shinde’s Shiv Sena, succeeded in coming to power in the BMC and subsequently appointed Ritu Tawde as mayor for a two-and-a-half-year term. Shinde’s statement now raises questions over the BJP’s position on the next mayor and the broader power-sharing arrangement within the Mahayuti. Shinde also claimed that the city’s pothole problem had reduced substantially following road works. He expressed confidence that Mumbai would be completely pothole-free within a year.