Mumbai, Jan 16 (PTI) The BJP–Shiv Sena alliance has taken decisive strides towards wresting the control of India’s richest civic body from the Thackerays after nearly 25 years, blunting the combined challenge of Uddhav and Raj, who had allied for the BMC polls after almost two decades.
The results dealt an embarrassing blow to the cousins, who projected themselves as the sole custodians of Marathi manoos and regional ‘asmita’ (pride).
Their emotive campaign revolved around the emotive issue of Marathi pride, the inseparability of Mumbai and Maharashtra, and the “conspiracy” by the BJP to sever the city from the state.
Counting of votes for elections to Mumbai and 28 other municipal corporations, including Pune, was held on Friday, a day after the polling saw a 54.77 per cent turnout.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, with an annual budget exceeding Rs 74,400 crore, plays a critical role in Mumbai’s infrastructure development, public health services and civic administration, making control of the body both politically and administratively crucial.
The outcome marks a dramatic realignment in Mumbai’s civic politics, with the BJP, long a junior partner in the undivided Shiv Sena’s BMC rule, now emerging as the central force, backed by the Shinde-led faction that split from the Sena in 2022.
The undivided Shiv Sena dominated the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation since the late 1990s.
For the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), the results point to its weakest performance in the civic body in over two decades.
The trends and results indicate that the “Thackeray brand” partially succeeded at the hustings, raising questions over the political survival of especially Raj Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Founded by Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena first came to power in the BMC in 1997, winning 103 seats and dislodging the Congress, which secured 49 seats. The BJP won 26 seats, while the Samajwadi Party emerged victorious in 21 wards.
In the previous elections in 2017, the undivided Shiv Sena had emerged as the single largest party with 84 seats, followed closely by the BJP which won 82 seats. The Congress had won 31 seats, the NCP (undivided) nine, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) seven, and the Samajwadi Party six.
Although the BJP and Shiv Sena were allies at the time, they had contested separately and formed an alliance after the polls.
In the run-up to the current elections, the MNS and the Shiv Sena (UBT) contested together, attempting to consolidate Marathi votes amid a fragmented Sena legacy.
However, these efforts proved insufficient to retain Uddhav Thackeray’s long-standing civic stronghold.
Political observers and officials said the results signal a significant reshaping of Mumbai’s civic political landscape, with the centre of power shifting away from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and strengthening the BJP’s footprint in the financial capital.
As many as 1,700 candidates—878 women and 822 men—contested the polls, while 1,03,44,315 voters, including 55,15,707 men, 48,26,509 women and 1,099 others, were eligible to cast their ballots.
A voter turnout of 52.94 per cent was recorded in the elections held on Thursday, amid a major controversy over claims that the ink applied on voters’ fingers could be easily removed.
The voter turnout was marginally lower than the 2017 civic polls, which had logged 55.28 per cent, the highest in over three decades.
The BJP contested 137 seats, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena 90, while the NCP, headed by Ajit Pawar, fielded candidates separately on 94 seats.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) had fielded 163 candidates, the MNS 52, the Congress 143, and the VBA (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi) 46. PTI KK NSK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.