'Paint Mumbra green’: 22-year-old AIMIM corporator Sahar Shaikh's jibe raises eyebrows; Mahayuti, NCP(SP) hit back

THANE: The political temperature in Mumbra of Thane city, shot up on Wednesday after a viral victory speech by 22-year-old AIMIM corporator Sahar Shaikh triggered a sharp war of words between the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party and the ruling Mahayuti alliance.Shaikh, who scored a decisive win from Ward 30 in the recently concluded Thane Municipal Corporation elections, grabbed headlines not just for her age but for her pointed remarks aimed at rival leaders.

The daughter of veteran local strongman Yunus Shaikh, she is being seen by political observers as having delivered a significant setback to NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad’s long-standing influence in the Mumbra-Kalwa belt.

Both her father and she switched to AIMIM from NCP SP and won the panel, after Awhad denied them a ticket . In a video that quickly went viral, Shaikh is heard asking, “Kaise haraya?” (How did we defeat you?), claiming that the “arrogance” of entrenched political figures had been crushed by the town’s youth and it was directed at NCP SP MLA Awhad. The remark sparked immediate reactions across party lines.The controversy intensified after Shaikh declared in the same speech that she would “paint all of Mumbra green” over the next five years.

Ruling party slammed the statement as a “dangerous provocation,” alleging it hinted at attempts to turn the area into a communal enclave.Unfazed by the criticism, Shaikh clarified on Wednesday that her words were being deliberately misread for political mileage. “My party’s flag is green. I was referring to AIMIM’s political presence and governance agenda, not religion. If my party’s flag were saffron, I would have said saffron,” she told reporters.Even as the political dust refuses to settle, Shaikh’s victory is being viewed as a marker of changing power equations in Mumbra, with young voters increasingly asserting their influence and challenging established political hierarchies.