In a cold war between the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kalyan-Dombivli, the first round has gone in favour of the Shinde camp. The lottery for mayoral post reservation has come as a setback for the BJP, as the mayor’s post in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has been reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

It may be recalled that during seat-sharing talks for the civic elections, relations between the BJP and the Shiv Sena turned so bitter that senior leaders had to step in. The crisis was defused only after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Shinde personally intervened and sealed the alliance. However, the Shinde-led Sena does not share a cordial relationship with state BJP president Ravindra Chavan, who hails from Dombivli, adding another layer of tension to the local power struggle.