‘Change is needed in Navi Mumbai,’ says Shinde; ‘Don’t take me lightly,’ warns Naik

Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and BJP strongman Ganesh Naik traded scathing personal attacks and allegations of massive financial irregularities ahead of the NMMC elections

NAVI MUMBAI: What had so far played out through indirect jabs spilled into open confrontation on Friday, as deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman Ganesh Naik traded scathing personal attacks and allegations of massive financial irregularities ahead of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) elections.

Navi Mumbai, India - Jan. 8, 2026:Maharashtra Dy CM Eknath Shinde during election campaign for Shiv Sena (Shinde) Candidates at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, India, on Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

While Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the BJP are allies in the state government, the two parties are contesting the NMMC polls separately. Shinde and Naik have been involved in a decades-old power struggle for regional dominance in the Thane and Navi Mumbai areas. The hostilities escalated on Friday after the Shiv Sena chief, spearheading massive roadshows across the city, signalled an end to the decades-long Naik hegemony.

“Change is needed here,” Shinde declared. “We keep the promises we make... a new government and a new change will definitely happen. A saffron storm will see the Shiv Sena flag fly high over the NMMC.”

Naik, the state forest minister, hit back with a frontal assault, identifying Shinde’s Shiv Sena as his primary adversary and mocking his coalition of defectors. “He has gathered all the old, seasoned players together. He has collected everyone. It is like a consolidated bloc, and that is why it looks swollen,” Naik said.

In a direct challenge to the deputy chief minister’s authority, Naik dismissed the notion of Shinde’s “impregnable” strongholds in Thane, Kalyan, and Bhiwandi as a media myth. He then issued a provocative warning: “If the BJP permits, I can overturn Shinde’s cart and make the horses vanish.”

Naik also cautioned Shinde against underestimating him. “Eknath Shinde says he should not be taken lightly. But do not take Ganesh Naik lightly,” he said. Positioning himself as a regional power player, Naik added that if the BJP central leadership willed it, “even the Kalyan and Thane MPs will be BJP’s,” a remark widely seen as a direct challenge to Shinde’s family and home turf.

Beyond the rhetoric, Naik levelled explosive corruption charges regarding the NMMC’s finances during the administrative period overseen by Shinde’s urban development department. “The civic body had around ₹3,000 crore in fixed deposits. During the administrative period, only about ₹800 crore remained. Around ₹2,200 crore was siphoned off,” he alleged. Naik further attacked a “builder-CIDCO nexus,” claiming plots bought at ₹30,000 per square metre are being resold for ₹1 lakh, with “black money” flooding the civic polls.

The Shinde camp’s retaliation was swift and stinging. Thane MP Naresh Mhaske questioned Naik’s mental state, suggesting the veteran leader had “lost his composure” due to Shinde’s rising popularity. “Ganesh Naik’s mental balance appears disturbed. He has realised that the people of Navi Mumbai are rejecting him,” Mhaske said.

Mhaske accused Naik of running the city as a private fiefdom. “Navi Mumbai is being run as if it belongs to someone’s father. But this city belongs to the people,” he said. In a move to isolate Naik from his own party, Mhaske claimed, “In Navi Mumbai, BJP does not exist anymore. What exists is the ‘Naik Janata Party.’” He asserted that the original BJP cadre and Shiv Sena workers are now united in their quest to end the Naik era.