The counting for the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is progressing, with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti maintaining a decisive lead. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena alliance is putting up a tough fight, by retaining its seats in traditional strongholds.
While writing this report, the BJP is leading in 88 seats and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in 28 seats. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena is the second largest party, leading in 66 seats, and his cousin Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is leading in six seats. Though the BJP-led Mahayuti has managed to attain the majority mark, Uddhav Sena is hoping that things could flip in their favour. Elections for the 227-member civic body, India's largest and richest, were held on Thursday and counting was taken up on Friday.
In the evening, the BJP celebrated its massive victory in the elections, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asserting next Mumbai mayor will be from the saffron party. "The BJP and Mahayuti are going to form their 25 mayors after these elections," he said.
We have received a record-breaking mandate in many municipal corporations and it underscores that people want honesty and development. That is why people voted for the BJP," Fadnavis claimed, as the BJP-led alliance has managed to topple not only the Thackerays in BMC, but the Pawars as well in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation polls.
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The BJP's performance has been excellent this election. The party contested 137 seats and is leading in 90 seats. Though the BJP was hoping to touch the triple-digit mark, it does not seem to have happened.
The Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS combine has managed to take decisive lead in Marathi speakers' strongholds in civic wards spread across assembly segments of Mahim, Sewree, Worli in Mumbai, besides Bhandup and Vikhroli in the eastern suburbs. However, the alliance, announced a few days before the January 15 polls, failed to make any impact in satellite cities of Mumbai -- Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayander, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar and Panvel - all part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) - one of the most urbanised belts of the country. The alliance also failed to make any impact in cities like Nashik and Pune.
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.
