BJP comes to power in BMC, trumps Thackeray brothers

Thanking voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X, “Mumbai is the pride of our nation. It is the city of aspiration. It is a city that drives our growth. I am extremely grateful to my sisters and brothers of Mumbai for blessing the NDA. Mumbai personifies the best of Maharashtra’s vibrant culture. Inspired by this great ethos, we will deliver good governance and ‘Ease of Living’ to the people of the city.”

In another post, the PM said, “Thank you Maharashtra! The dynamic people of the state bless the NDA’s agenda of pro-people good governance!  The results of various municipal corporation elections indicate that NDA’s bond with the people of Maharashtra has further deepened. Our track record and vision for development have struck a chord. My gratitude to the people across Maharashtra. This is a vote to add momentum to progress and celebrate the glorious culture the state is associated with.”

The BJP bettered its 2017 performance in the BMC and the rest of the state, where it won a total of 15 corporations between 2015 and 2018. Along with the undivided Shiv Sena, the BJP controlled 20 of the 27 corporations in the state at the time.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, state Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule sharing stage during celebrations in Nagpur. (Express Photo by Dhananjay Khedkar)

In the BMC, the BJP tally was 89 out of 227 seats, up from 82 in 2017, and the Shiv Sena of Shinde finished with 29. With this, the two allies crossed the halfway mark of 114. The Shiv Sena (UBT) managed to retain its presence in the city it once governed, even though its tally dropped to 65. In 2017, the undivided Sena, which split in 2022, had bagged 84 seats. The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, with whom Uddhav had allied, won 6 seats while the Congress tally was 24 and the NCP three seats. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM won 95 seats across the 29 municipal corporations, including 8 in the BMC.

“The massive mandate shows people have voted for the development agenda,” Fadnavis told party workers at the state headquarters in Nariman Point, where posters hailing the CM as “Dhurandhar Fadnavis” popped up.  “They have pledged their trust in those who are honest in pursuing the development, promising the transformation of Mumbai.”

The CM, who congratulated Deputy CM and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde over the telephone, said the next Mumbai mayor would be from the ruling Mahayuti alliance, but did not spell out whether Mumbai would get its first mayor from the BJP.

The Thackeray cousins who bet on the plank of “Marathi asmita (pride)” to take on the BJP and the Sena fell short even though Uddhav’s Sena (UBT) appeared to hold some of its ground. The party emerged as the second-largest party in the BMC despite being weakened by the 2022 split, following which most of its organisational network and resources had moved to Shinde’s Sena.

“The directives from the central leadership to the state were loud and clear: ‘We have to win Mumbai at any cost,’” said a senior BJP leader. The acrimony between the two sides dates back to the 2019 Assembly elections, when the undivided Sena broke its pre-poll alliance with the BJP after the elections to form a coalition with the Congress and the undivided NCP, known as the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Uddhav Thackeray became the CM of that government and the BJP was forced to sit in the Opposition.

The multi-cornered BMC elections this time saw the BJP-Shinde Sena come together to take on the Thackeray cousins and the NCP (SP). The Congress contested the polls along with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of Prakash Ambedkar.

According to the initial analysis, the BJP managed to retain its traditional vote bank of North Indians and Gujaratis, along with a sizable Marathi segment. The split in the Opposition worked to the BJP’s advantage more than the Shinde Sena.

Prakash Ambedkar, meanwhile, blamed ally Congress, saying it had made too many mistakes. “A section within Mumbai Congress created hurdles that proved fatal,” he said.

“The BJP manipulated the elections from the structuring of wards to ink fraud,” alleged state Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal.