And that is how the civic strike ended

According to one of the persons present at the meeting, Rane had told Nalinakshan to “sign up this draft and announce ex-gratia payment to the striking employees, or else…” The threat of a no-confidence motion was the final straw — even though the BMC is an autonomous body and the Shiv Sena leader had no locus standi to intervene.

The meeting, attended by Nalinakshan, Leader of the House in the BMC Digamber Kanderkar and union leaders, brought an end to the indefinite agitation that held the city to ransom for six days.

Even though the ruling Shiv Sena in the BMC does not have the numbers to pass a no-confidence motion — it requires a two-thirds majority — getting 19 corporators to cross over may not have posed a serious hurdle. In the 221-member house, the ruling Sena-BJP alliance has 128 members, 19 short of a two-thirds majority.

Remarks Opposition leader on the BMC, K A Bastiwalla (Cong): “The leader of the Opposition in the Assembly has no right to call any official of municipal body to discuss matters concerning the corporation.” Confirming that Nalinakshan had been pressurised, he adds: “Rane infringed his rights and got Nalinakshan come over to his place, only to pressurise him and give the union leaders a winning edge.”

Nalinakshan himself continues to maintain a stoic silence and declines comment. “The chief minister and deputy chief minister did not interfere in the matter, neither did they pressurise me,” was all he was willing to say.

With Rane’s intervention, the Sena also did an about-turn on its stand during the six-day-long agitation. Having initially supported the civic administration, it abruptly extended its support to the municipal unions. It therefore came as no surprise that Leader of the House in the BMC, Digambar Kandarkar, managed able to pressurise Nalinakshan to grant ex-gratia for the current financial year during the meeting convened by mayor.

“At 4 pm, I finally put my foot down and refused to sign the draft. It was only then that the union leaders and group leaders came down on their demands,” Nalinakshan told Newsline.

Significantly, the draft does not directly state that the commissioner had agreed to make the ex-gratia payment. Instead, it states that the union leaders had withdrawn the agitation “unconditionally,” on the mayor’s request.

It was after this that negotiations between the union leaders and group leaders began. The group leaders felt that ex-gratia be paid to the employees and assured the union leaders that the matter would be placed before the civic administration. A 10-member committee was then set up to decide on the quantum of ex-gratia.

“I am not bound to abide by the committee’s recommendations. But I shall respect it,” Nalinakshan had told the media after the meeting and added that he had never changed his stand throughout the discussions.