By Insaf
The BJP-Sena alliance has ended the Thackeray family’s 25-year control, since 1977 of the country’s richest civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, winning a majority with 118 out of 227 seats. Attention now turns to who will be Mayor, as political maneuvering continues. Having secured a clear majority with 118 of 227 seats (BJP 89 seats, Shinde-led Sena 29), the drama appears to be far from over. The Shiv Sena-UBT-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar alliance managed to win 72 seats, with Uddhav Thackeray team winning 65 seats, giving him hope to install his mayor in Mumbai! Illusional says Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, credited for the victory and affirms ‘it will be a Mahayuti Mayor.’ However, eyebrows are being raised with partner Eknath Shinde-led SS shifting its corporators in Mumbai to a luxury hotel, with reasons ‘they can refresh’ themselves after a hectic poll season or to undergo “orientation” course. But the question uppermost is whether it’s an opportunity for Shinde to seek his pound of flesh and insist on a ‘Marathi’ Mayor. Indeed, the battle is not over yet!
Uncertainty hangs on another front. The Pawars which fought the polls together have been stumped by the BJP’s victory in their bastion, Pune and Pimpri Chichwad. In Pune BJP won 119 seats, the NCP came a distant second with 27 seats, while its ally, NCP (SP), won only three, with Congress bagging 15 seats; in Pimpri the BJP bagged 84 seats of 128. The Pawars are to mull over the outcome. This apart, the two will need to decide whether to fight the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections together? Ajit Pawar, deputy CM, congratulated his partner in the Mahayuti, the BJP and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, for its performance. Said he, the takeaway from this defeat ‘is not to get discouraged but to continue working.’ The results represent a significant blow to Ajit Pawar’s individual political standing in western Maharashtra. In fact, the defeat in these civic polls is being viewed as a critical signal ahead of the 2029 state Assembly elections, indicating a shifting dynamics within the Mahayuti alliance.
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WB Stirring
Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal has been hitting headlines this past week. One, Prime Minister Modi setting the tone for upcoming Assembly elections. Two, the high drama over political consultancy firm I-PAC ED raids before the polls. On Saturday, Modi addressed a mega rally in Malda, wherein he flagged cross-border infiltration as a key issue, alleging it had altered the state’s demographic balance and fuelled riots, plus TMC’s ‘thuggery’ and its ‘politics of threatening the poor’ would soon come to an end. Said he: Bengal ‘is surrounded by BJP governments that stand for good governance. Now it’s time for good governance in Bengal too.’ He addressed another rally in Singur. Meanwhile, the ED raids on I-PAC have unleashed a high-pitched political drama, reaching the Supreme Court. On Saturday, at a function to inaugurate a new building of Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of Calcutta HC, Mamata reached out to CJI Justice Surya Kant to protect the Constitution, democracy and judiciary as the people were being wrongly targeted by ‘agencies’. This presumably after the top court viewed her government’s obstruction of ED officials as ‘a serious issue’; stayed FIRs against ED officials and issued notice to the government. It also expressed displeasure over chaos before Calcutta HC saying ‘We are very much disturbed… Today it is this HC, tomorrow it may be some other HC.’ The matter is listed for February 3. Didi, has a lot on her plate to handle.
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DMK-Cong TN Alliance?
Speculation is rife over DMK-Congress alliance for the ensuing Assembly elections. The past few weeks have seen rising tensions between the two partners over Congress demanding more number of seats, 40–50, significantly higher than the 25 it contested in 2021, and power sharing as currently no DMK ally holds a ministerial portfolio. For a party that has long accepted a junior-partner status in TN, the sudden assertiveness marks a clear departure from its earlier submissive approach. Worse, matters get further complicated as Praveen Chakravarthy, Congress’ data analytics head and a known confidant of Rahul Gandhi meets with TVK leader Vijay at his residence. In the backdrop there are hints even from TVK quarters of a possible alliance with the Congress! This apart, Chakravarthy’s recent post on X about the state’s worsening debt position under the DMK government, has ruffled feathers. He claimed the state’s outstanding debt is now higher than Uttar Pradesh’s and the situation was ‘alarming’. The timing raises eyebrows as DMK leader Kanimozhi has claimed that the Stalin government had transformed a debt-burdened TN into a developed and growth-oriented State. Clearly, DMK cadres are upset over Congress actions as they see it as breaching coalition discipline. However, the state Congress insists all is well and that talks with the DMK are on track and the alliance remains intact. Time will tell.
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Rajasthan SIR Row
A political row is brewing in Rajasthan following a video of a distressed Booth Level Officer (BLO) alleging political pressure to delete 450 voters during the ongoing SIR. The Congress has seized the opportunity and hit out at the ruling BJP for orchestrating ‘mass voter deletions’. Apparently, reports are emerging from Jodhpur and Alwar among other districts wherein names of several Congress workers have been allegedly removed from electoral rolls and objections suddenly being filed against 1,397 voters. Worse, most of the affected voters reportedly belong to Muslim community. In its response, the Congress has staged protests in several districts, and submitted memorandums to DCs and SDMs, and State CEO alleging a conspiracy to target voters with Congress leanings. Interestingly, alleged targeting of Congress takes another form. On Tuesday last, a BJP leader and former minister, Mahenddrajeet Malyia who signalled a return to the Congress was raided by the anti-corruption Bureau. He is said to have been upset with the government’s functioning. The raid and the deletions of voters are bound to have a chilling effect. There can be no two opinions.
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UP’s Stray Dogs Feat
Uttar Pradesh can boast of a success story. More so, as its none other than the Supreme Court making a mention of it in the last six months. Over 1 lakh stray dogs have been sterilised and vaccinated since 2019 resulting in stabilisation of stray dog population and reduction in human-dog conflicts. It’s called the ‘Lucknow model’. Recall, on stray dogs the Supreme Court had in August last ordered that while dogs would still be picked up, they will be released back upon sterilisation and immunisation. The UP government acted with alacrity. In a public-private partnership, the Lucknow Corporation and Human world for Animals India, got cracking and sterilised since 2019 over one lakh dogs of 1.35 lakhs, achieving coverage of 84%. The work is on two planks: Animal Birth Control (ABC) and community engaged. So, other than just sterilisation of stray dogs, Lucknow is placing equal weight on changing human behaviour. These include training and awareness sessions on how to engage with dogs, understand their body language when and when not to approach them and what and how to feed them. Guess, the pioneering work should have takers in other States, struggling with the menace of stray and dogs bites. —INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
New Delhi
18 January 2026
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