The results from 12 districts, where 731 seats were at stake, show the Shinde Sena winning 162 of the 387 seats it contested, a strike rate of about 42 per cent. (File Photo)
The results of the Zilla Parishad elections show that Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s strategy of going all out in rural Maharashtra has paid off, with his party Shiv Sena gaining ground over the Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena UBT.
The results from 12 districts, where 731 seats were at stake, show the Shinde Sena winning 162 of the 387 seats it contested, a strike rate of about 42 per cent. In comparison, the BJP won 225 of the 502 seats it contested, a strike rate of 44.82 per cent. The Sena UBT, however, has been restricted to 43 seats in these districts.
The numbers are significant for another reason. In the 2017 Zilla Parishad elections, the undivided Shiv Sena had won 148 seats in these districts. With 162 seats this time, Shinde’s Sena has crossed that benchmark.
In Panchayat Samiti as well, the party managed to win 302 seats and Sena (UBT) managed to win only 89.
Konkan, once considered the Sena’s rural bastion after Mumbai, has delivered the clearest signal. In Ratnagiri, the Shinde Sena won 41 of 56 seats, securing an outright majority. The Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP) failed to open their account there. The Sena UBT won only five seats.
In Raigad, the Sena emerged as the single largest party, winning 23 seats, with leaders such as minister Bharat Gogawale and MLAs Mahendra Dalvi and Mahendra Thorve consolidating their influence. In Raigad, Sena UBT won only four seats.
In Sindhudurg, the Sena-BJP alliance secured control, with the BJP winning 27 seats and the Sena 13, aided by coordinated campaigning by Deepak Kesarkar, Nilesh Rane, Narayan Rane and Nitesh Rane. Here the Uddhav’s party won only three seats.
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These districts were central to the undivided Sena’s rural expansion in the 1990s.
In parts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada, the Sena has not dominated in the way the NCP once did, but it has ensured a visible presence.
In Sangli’s Khanapur taluka, the party won all four Zilla Parishad seats and eight Panchayat Samiti seats, with MLA Suhas Babar credited for the sweep.
In Satara, minister Shambhuraj Desai retained influence in his belt. In Kolhapur and Latur, where the Sena contested as part of the Mahayuti along with the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, the alliance secured a majority.
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A senior Sena functionary said that Shinde had held over 20 rallies. While Shinde personally led the campaign across Konkan, western Maharashtra and Marathwada, Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray relied largely on district level leadership.
“Outside Mumbai, the organisational space once associated with the undivided Shiv Sena now largely with us and it will be reflected in the upcoming polls too,” a Sena functionary said.
Vallabh Ozarkar is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express' Mumbai bureau, recognized as an authoritative and deeply knowledgeable voice on the politics, governance, and infrastructure of Maharashtra. With more than nine years of experience in major news organizations, his reporting delivers high standards of Expertise and Trustworthiness.
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