The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ably led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has succeeded in gaining edge over the Thackeray brand from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The BJP-led Mahayuti's tally has crossed the majority mark of 114 in the crucial Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. The counting is still progressing for 30 seats.
The erstwhile united Shiv Sena had ruled the BMC for almost three decades. The richest civic body in Asia was a milch cow for the Thackeray-run party. Now, for the first time, the BJP is likely to have its mayor to govern the affairs of the BMC, a milestone achievement by Fadnavis and Mumbai BJP president Amit Satam.
Chief Minister Fadnavis had told this writer that the BJP-led saffron alliance, which is ruling Maharashtra, would be able to win 24-25 municipal corporations of the total 29 where elections took place. Fadnavis’s confidence has turned out to be true, with victory in the BMC being the most cherished.
Of the 116 seats in which Mahayuti is leading, the BJP is leading in 90 seats, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in 22, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in four. The counting is still progressing.
On the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) is leading in 68 seats, while Raj Thackeray’s MNS in seven. The Congress is leading in 13 seats.
The BJP’s performance has been excellent. It had won 82 seats out of 227 in the 2017 elections. This time, it contested 137 seats and is leading in 90 seats. The BJP leadership was hoping to touch the triple-digit mark, but that does not seem to have happened. On the other hand, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena contested 90 seats but is leading only in 28, despite the fact that more than 50 corporators of the united Shiv Sena had joined the Shinde faction after it was formed in 2022, and most of them were given tickets.
Some of the major losers turned out to be Samadhan Sarvankar, a corporator and son of Shiv Sena legislator Sada Sarvankar. Deepti Vaykar, daughter of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Vaykar, also lost the election.
Despite its defeat, Shiv Sena (UBT) has not performed all that badly, especially when compared with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. This clearly means that Marathi voters from Mumbai still have faith and love for the Thackeray family.
Raj Thackeray’s MNS is leading in seven, more or less the same as in 2017. Fadnavis had told this writer that the alliance of the Thackeray cousins would benefit Uddhav more than Raj, and that seems to have come true.
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Though entire voting pattern data is not out yet, it can be safely said that had Congress agreed to include MNS in the MVA alliance, the result of the election might well have been different.
On the other hand, in the Thane Municipal Corporation, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has managed to ensure that it remains his bastion. The same, however, cannot be said about Ajit Pawar, the other deputy chief minister, as he has failed to retake control of the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporations despite a massive campaign and the coming together of both factions of the NCP.