India, Dec. 31 -- "Eknath Shinde is a political case study," says a senior Maharashtra BJP leader. He should know what he is talking about, having just emerged, somewhat bruised from Shinde's headlock during seat negotiations for the January 15 BMC elections.

The BJP, riding high following a slew of successfully-executed infra projects, began negotiations with an offer of 52 seats to Shiv Sena for the 227-seat House. The alliance that was sealed on the final day of nominations on Tuesday was 137 seats for the BJP and 90 seats for Shinde. "He is hard, steadfast and relentless during negotiations," says one of his close aides.

Few politicians in India have had as meteoric a rise as Eknath Shinde. The 61-year-old split the Shiv Sena in mid...