NAVI MUMBAI, Dec. 9 -- The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) election has spiralled into one of the most fractured contests the ruling Mahayuti has faced, with BJP leader Ganesh Naik's high-voltage campaign provoking open resistance from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and triggering a counter-offensive from Belapur MLA Manda Mhatre, within his own party. Unveiling his campaign with signature political swagger, Naik revived his long-standing populist plank - a 20-year freeze on property tax and water charges - while asserting complete confidence over the outcome of the upcoming elections. "In 2000, I had promised there would be no increase in property tax and water charges, and fulfilled it. Now I announce a freeze for another 20 years," he said. "Navi Mumbai's mayor will be from the BJP. I say this with full confidence," he added. Further escalating the political stakes, he said he would work even harder for the civic polls than he did for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. "I will work with tann and mann (body and mind) - and everyone knows what comes next," Naik remarked, without completing the popular "tann-mann-dhan" phrase. But it was his bold claim of pushing beyond Navi Mumbai - into Thane, Kalyan and Dombivli - that struck at the heart of deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde's turf. "If they (Shiv Sena) act right, we will take them along. If they act wrong, we will respond accordingly. If we do not get respect, then we are not obliged to respect them either," Naik warned. Within the Sena, his remarks were seen as a challenge to Shinde, especially given Naik's role as the BJP's Thane district election in-charge. The strain between the two leaders was visible when Shinde skipped a joint appearance with Naik at the Shivaji Maharaj statue inauguration in Nerul. Thane MP Naresh Mhaske also stayed away, later saying there was "no need for another inauguration" since MNS leader Amit Thackeray had already unveiled the statue, adding that repeating it would be "disrespectful". The snub was widely interpreted as a message to Naik, who had publicly taken credit for pursuing the statue through former mayor Jaywant Sutar. Sena leaders have since intensified their city-wide mobilisation, suggesting the alliance could fracture on the ground even if it holds at the state level. Navi Mumbai's Shiv Sena chief Kishore Patkar, who has filed a PIL challenging Naik's janata darbars (grievance redressal meetings), said: "The Shiv Sena is very strong in the city and we are confident of winning. We will not sit quietly if our leader is targeted." But Naik will have to contend with a new challenge, this time from within his own party. Armed with the new reservation matrix that allocates 56 of 111 the civic seats to women, Belapur MLA Manda Mhatre has launched a full-scale pushback against what she calls Naik's "dynastic dominance". "Those who had betrayed and quit the party have returned. Now if they claim they have won several times and so deserve tickets, it means nothing," she said. In a thinly veiled reference to Naik loyalists she added, "Some people never even displayed the BJP symbol but are now demanding four to five tickets for their families. This is the BJP, not Congress or NCP." Positioning herself as the chief architect of women's political assertion, she said, "With 56 women corporators to be elected, I will have even more strength," said Mhatre....