The 29 newly elected Shiv Sena corporators, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, left the Bandra hotel on Tuesday after the Gazette notification was issued recognizing their election.
The corporators had been staying at the Taj Lands End since January 17, soon after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) results, as the party waited for legal formalities to be completed and power-sharing within the alliance to be clarified. With the notification issued in the Gazette, corporators are now formally recognized as councillors, allowing the Shiv Sena to go ahead with registering its municipal party group and appointing the municipal corporation group leader.
The BMC has a total strength of 227 corporators and 114 seats are needed to get a majority. The BJP has become the largest party with 89 seats, but falls short of a majority on its own. Shinde-led Shiv Sena has 29 seats, taking the alliance’s total to 118, above the majority mark.
With post-election numbers putting the Shinde-led Sena in a key position, Shinde met BJP leaders in Delhi on Tuesday. He is learned to have briefed them on the situation in Mumbai following the BMC results, including discussions over the post of mayor and power-sharing deals in other municipal corporations where the two parties contested together.
Sources said once the Gazette notice was issued, there was no longer a need to keep the corporators together and they were allowed to return to their rooms. Several businessmen had wanted to return earlier to hold victory meetings with voters.
Party sources said the Shiv Sena will now proceed with the formal registration of its municipal group, following which a group leader will be appointed and the party’s disciplinary mechanisms will come into force.
Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale is also expected to be part of the talks with BJP leaders as talks spread beyond Mumbai to civic bodies like Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli.
The final shape of power sharing in the BMC is expected to become clear once these discussions conclude.