No clear winner in Sena vs Sena contest: Thackeray strong in Mumbai, Shinde in Thane municipal polls

Voters in Maharashtra’s key civic battlegrounds deliver split verdict on fractured Shiv Sena, backing Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, handing Shinde’s faction a decisive victory in its bastion Thane.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde being garlanded in Thane on Friday | ANI

Mumbai: In what was a do-or-die election for the Shiv Sena UBT, the party has got no clear answer from voters. Founded by Bal Thackeray in Mumbai, the party tasted its first ever political success in Thane in the 1967 municipal polls. But in these municipal corporation elections, while the party has done well in Mumbai, its performance in Thane was embarrassing.

On the other hand, the Shinde Shiv Sena performed well in his bastion Thane, but not in Mumbai.

In Mumbai, both Senas faced each other on 50 seats. Of these, Sena UBT has won 34. In Thane, the Shinde Shiv Sena won 75 wards while Sena UBT managed to win only 1.

From 1997 to 2022, the Shiv Sena (undivided) ruled BMC, the richest civic body in the country. However, they will now have to sit in the Opposition.

In the BMC polls, of the 163 seats contested by Shiv Sena UBT, it won 65, while Shinde’s Shiv Sena won 29 of the 90 seats it contested.

In Mumbai, the Thackeray brothers fought the election on the Marathi manoos plank, reigniting memories of Samyukta Maharashtra. They held a grand rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground to a packed audience on 11 January where they spoke about how this election would be a lost opportunity if people didn’t vote for the Sena UBT-MNS alliance. People seemed to have heard the call. On the other hand, the Mahayuti spoke on development, which seems to have resonated with some people, especially in the wards where BJP won (89 seats).

Neighbouring Thane municipal corporation, where Eknath Shinde has held power for decades, has decided to stay with the Shiv Sena-BJP. Here too, Shiv Sena UBT-MNS combination failed to sway voters.

Ever since Eknath Shinde engineered a vertical split in the party in 2022, the question of which is the real Shiv Sena has persisted. In the Lok Sabha elections, though Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena won more seats (9) compared to Shinde’s Sena (7), Shinde’s strike rate was better than Thackeray’s. The two parties fought against each other directly in 13 seats, of which Shinde Sena won 7, while the Shiv Sena UBT won 6.

However, in the assembly polls, Eknath Shinde emerged victorious across Maharashtra, winning 57 seats while Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena won only 20 seats.

The two Shiv Senas were directly pitted against each other in at least 52 of Maharashtra’s 288 seats in the assembly elections. The Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 36 of those. Of all the seats where the two Shiv Senas were pitted against each other, 11 were in Mumbai. Here, the Shiv Sena UBT won six seats, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena won five.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)