Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena to sit in Opposition in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

Navi Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will be the opposition party in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) since it won 42 seats and BJP 65. Three Sena corporators — Vijay Chougule, Kishor Patkar and Suresh Kulkarni — are contenders for the Leader of Opposition post, said political observers.

Chougule played a vital role in winning maximum seats for Sena candidates in Airoli, BJP MLA Ganesh Naik's constituency. Patkar, who is Sena's Belapur constituency district chief, also ensured victory for maximum candidates by proper co-ordination and door-to-door visits for election campaigning, by assuring to resolve the issues of lack of civic amenities in Navi Mumbai. Kulkarni is a close confidante of Ganesh Naik.


For the NMMC Mayor's post, if reserved for women, the strong contenders are Vaishnavi Naik, wife of Ganesh Naik's nephew Vaibhav Naik; Netra Aashish Shirke, who is a former NMMC standing committee chairperson; Saluja Sandeep Sutar, former corporator and ex-standing committee member; and Priti Sandeep Bhagat, wife of the brother of BJP leader Dashrath Bhagat, who was a former Leader of Opposition in NMMC before defecting to BJP from Congress in 2019.

If the Mayor's post is not reserved for women, Sagar Dnyaneshwar Naik, former NMMC Mayor and the nephew of Ganesh Naik, is a strong contender. As Jaywant Sutar, former Mayor and a close confidant of Ganesh Naik, got elected as a corporator, he is also in the race.

Senior political analyst BN Kumar said, "...The mayoral election in the NMMC is unlikely to be as challenging as that for the BMC's Mayor post. The real question is which member of the extended Naik family will take over as mayor: Sagar Naik, who served as mayor between 2010 and 2015, or the newly elected Vaishnavi Naik, wife of Vaibhav Tukaram Naik."

He added: "Interestingly, the more intense tussle appears to be over the post of Leader of the Opposition. The contest is likely a straight fight between two Shiv Sena corporators, Kishor Patkar, who is credited as a pioneer of redevelopment in Navi Mumbai, and Vijay Chougule, a resourceful businessman. Both maintain close links with deputy CM Eknath Shinde."