India / Amit Shah to visits Mumbai for Ganesh festivities BMC strategy Uddhav Thackeray

New Delhi : Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits Mumbai every year for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. This time too he is going to visit Mumbai on 5th September. Let us tell you that this time Ganesh Chaturthi festival is being celebrated from 31 August to 9 September. In such a situation, many meanings of Shah's visit to Mumbai are also being extracted. He can hold a meeting with senior BJP leaders during this time. However, the main political agenda of Shah's visit is the upcoming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Senior BJP sources told The Indian Express that Shah will hold a series of meetings with leaders of the party's Maharashtra and Mumbai units. According to the report, a senior BJP functionary said, “When it comes to Modi and Shah, then there is no holiday. So, if it looks like he is coming to Mumbai to worship Lalbaugcha Raja [one of the oldest Ganesh mandals in Mumbai], he will hold several meetings with the state core committee team.”

Sources said Shah will also discuss the roadmap for the next 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections. But the focus will be on 227 wards of BMC. Sources said his meeting with state leaders is aimed at activating the cadre to take on the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the battle for the world's richest municipality, the BMC. The stalled elections on the issue of OBC reservation are likely to be held in January-February 2023.

The Shiv Sena has kept control of the BMC for the last 30 years in alliance with the BJP and later independently. But now after the rebellion of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, many Shiv Sena MLAs from Mumbai have also changed their side. So the road is not going to be easy for Uddhav Thackeray. BJP is trying to take full advantage of this. The Shiv Sena, which is largely seen as the party of Mumbai, therefore its main strength also lies in keeping the civic body under its control.

After snatching control of the government from Thackeray, BJP now wants to remove Shiv Sena's hold on BMC. In 2017, for the first time, the BJP came into a close contest, winning 82 seats against the Shiv Sena's 85. Now BJP along with Shinde Sena wants to reduce the influence of Uddhav Thackeray. BJP sources said some Shiv Sena corporators are expected to join the BJP. Sources said the message from the central leadership to the state unit is: "We have to win the BMC with a thumping majority." Confirming Shah's visit to Mumbai, a party general secretary said, "This will be Shah's first visit to Mumbai after the BJP-Shinde Sena government was formed."