The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election battle between the Shiv Sena's (UBT) Nishikant Shinde and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) Samadhan Sarvankar has emerged as a major flashpoint at electoral ward 194.
Ward 194 lies in G South, Prabhadevi, a part of central Mumbai that was once an important ideological stronghold for the undivided Shiv Sena.
Nishikant Shinde has won over the fray in the Prabhadevi-Dadar area by a whopping 592 votes.
This comes despite the Mahayuti alliance—comprising the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP—holding a strong lead of 109 seats over the Thackeray brothers' 67.
For Nishikant Shinde, the brother of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sunil Shinde, the contest is deeply personal, as he had to wrest the chance away from Santosh Dhuri of the MNS.
According to an ABP Majha report, Nishikant Shinde's chance to contest ward 194 was also a reward for his brother's decision to leave his Worli constituency for Aditya Thackeray, and for ward 192 being given to the MNS.
Nishikant Shinde is now reportedly relying on his local networks and the emotional power of the Shiv Sena (UBT) argument claiming to be the "real Shiv Sena" to battle Sarvankar.
Sarvankar, however, is no easy foe, as he is a former corporator for ward 194 itself, winning over the Prabhadevi-Dadar area with a whopping 8,623 votes in 2017 under the wing of the undivided Shiv Sena.
This "real Shiv Sena" argument was also recently put to the test in a December 2025 'Marathi Manus' survey, in which 45 per cent of the respondents claimed that the Shiv Sena (UBT) was the "real Shiv Sena", while 22 per cent felt that it was the faction led by Eknath Shinde-led faction.
While these results—especially the 52 per cent backing the idea of a unified Sena—indicate that Mumbai's voters are divided, ground realities are set to influence the results.
In that regard, both Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde have earlier attacked the Thackerays over this, saying that it was this uncertainty and failed development that had "thrown (the brothers) out" of the elections—which they had claimed would happen again in the BMC elections.