Shiv Sena is on its way to become single largest party in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as it is so far leading in 84 of the 227 seats in the municipal body. The BJP too has emerged very strong with 80 seats in its kitty so far.
The two parties, which broke their three decade old alliance in the municipal body, appear to have decimated Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Together, the two saffron parties have pocketed 145 of the 227 electoral wards in BMC.
Breaking the alliance seems to have turned out to be a very good move for Shiv Sena and the BJP. Both parties bettered their performance when compared with the 2012 BMC elections. In 2012, Shiv Sena had 75 seats while BJP had 35. This time around, Shiv Sena has moved ahead of 90 seats, a gain of more than 15 seats, while BJP is moved up 55 mark, a gain of more than 20 seats.
As Shiv Sena's victory became clear, the first head to roll was that of Mumbai congress president Sanjay Nirupam. Nirupam accepted the responsibility for the defeat and tendered his resignation. He, however, used the opportunity to complain that his rivals within the party spoiled the chance for Congress.
This victory is yet another feather in the cap of Shiv Sena party president Uddhav Thackeray as he faced a huge challenge of retaining his party's citadels of Mumbai and Thane. While Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was campaigning all across Maharshtra, Uddhav had more or less focussed his entire attention on Mumbai and Thane. His efforts have certainly paid rich dividends as Shiv Sena is slowly on its way to become single largest party in Thane Municipal Corporation as well.
What remains to be seen now is whether Shiv Sena will win majority on its own and cross the magic figure of 114. As of now it is 24 seats away from the mark. If it is unable to reach 114 on its own, then it will have to seek support of its estranged partner, the BJP. The BJP has already indicated that its doors are open but Shiv Sena will have to make the first move as it is the single largest party.
The BMC result has slightly dampened the spirity of the BJP as it was hoping to restrict Shiv Sena to around 80 odd seats. Privately, BJP leaders were hoping that the gap between Shiv Sena and the BJP will be just about 5-7 seats, but that does not seem to be happening as the difference, at the time of filing this report, stands at 30 seats. Another blow for BJP is the defeat of Vinod Shelar, brother of Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar.
Shiv Sainiks had taken a challenge of sorts that they will humble Shelar's brother as Ashish Shelar was seen as one of the main culprits as he was extremely critical of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.Â
