BJP ends Sena’s 30-year hold on BMC
A multi-cornered contests, deep ideological divisions within the major INDIA bloc partners in Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) which fought separately without a focused plan for the Mumbai civic elections, helped the BJP on Friday to break the hegemony of three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. BJP also triumphed in Pune, Nagpur, where it decimated the alliance of NCP factions, another Maharashtra family run party with several factions.
The high-stakes battle for BMC had witnessed the Thackeray cousins — Raj and Udhhav — reunite after two decades, only to see their hopes dashed in Mumbai. However, the pollsters analysed a ‘quick-fix’ solution that had it been a ‘united’ Balasaheb Thackeray Shiv Sena face, the combined strength of BMC was better than BJP, till the votes being counted.
The poor show of Udhhav led Shiv Sena and the Congress exposed organisational weaknesses, personality clashes while BJP’s success was established through a consistent and focused strategy to drive from the power seat of the financial Capital of country. For years, the BMC was considered the invincible fortress of the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.BJP-led alliance was set to bag around 125 of 227 seats in BMC, which is India’s richest civic body, whose budget for 2025-26 is a whopping INR 74,427 crore.
These victories by BJP soon after securing civic berths in down south in Kerala including Thiruvananthpuram, has come as a major booster dose for the party which is now preparing itself for poll bounds States of Kerala and West Bengal.
Similarly in Pune and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation polls, the BJP was heading towards a massive victory, way ahead of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and NCP (SP) alliance. BJP was on course to surpass the 2017 tally of 108 seats in the 151-member Nagpur civic body.
Congress won elections to the Latur Municipal Corporation, bagging a clear majority with over 40 seats in the 70-member body, leaving the BJP a distant second.
BJP contested the January 15 polls in an alliance with the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), headed by Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, respectively, had a pre-poll pact.
Congress, part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) at the state level, tied with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP).
The split in the original Shiv Sena and the NCP, coupled with the Congress’s decision to contest independently, effectively diluted anti-BJP vote share across nearly 200 wards. The poor showing of the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) in Mumbai, once considered their stronghold, marks a significant political setback for both parties.
For Shiv Sena (UBT), the outcome represents nothing short of a political disaster as the original Shiv Sena by Balasaheb Thackeray was launched in Mumbai. Now, for Uddhav Thackeray, the challenge is to prove his faction’s continued relevance in Maharashtra politics beyond being a partner in the MVA.
PM thanks Mumbai voters
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday thanked the people of Mumbai for “blessing” the NDA as the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance headed towards a majority in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections. In a post on X, Modi said Mumbai was the “pride of the nation” and a city that drives India’s growth and aspirations. He said the metropolis reflected the best of Maharashtra’s vibrant culture. Inspired by this ethos, the Prime Minister said, the NDA would work to deliver good governance and improve the “Ease of Living” for Mumbai’s citizens.
