Uddhav Thackeray: Not just Mumbai mayor, Maharashtra next chief minister will be from Shiv Sena

Thackeray, however, conceded that the party had expected to win more seats. “But, whatever we have won, we have won on the merit of our Sainiks (workers). We are thankful to Mumbaikars who have kept their faith in us for the fifth consecutive time,” he said.

The Sena leader said the party had done better than the last polls as it had won seats even in Muslim-dominated areas this time. “I am still eating victory sweets….yet to decide if an alliance will be struck,” he reiterated.

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When reminded of his pre-election declaration that there would be no alliance with any party from now onwards, Uddhav said, “If I have stated my stand once, then an alliance won’t happen, why are you asking this question again and again?” “I have not thought about alliance (yet)….I only know we are number one party,” he said.

The Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party in the cash-rich BMC winning 84 seats, but fell short of majority. The BJP, on the other hand made significant gain in the BMC winning 82 seats against just 31 in the 2012 polls. Congress was relegated to the third position in the BMC with 31 seats followed by NCP with 9 seats. MNS won 7 seats, AIMIM-3, SP-6, Akhil Bhartiya Sena-1 and others-4.

Meanwhile, state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hailed BJP’s performance in the BMC polls, saying it was unprecedented. He thanked the people of Maharashtra for showing faith in the BJP and voting for its agenda of transparency.

Asked about a tussle for the post of Mayor, he said: “The core committee of the two parties will meet and take a decision. We shall respect the verdict of the people.”

The BJP also gained hugely in nine other major civic bodies of Maharashtra. It raced towards victory in the Pune Municipal Corporation with 77 seats, while the NCP got 44, Shiv Sena 10, Congress 16 and MNS six in the state’s cultural and IT capital. The contest was close in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation near Pune. The BJP surged with 58 seats, with the ruling NCP getting 29 seats in the 128-member house.

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The Shiv Sena was on way to retaining control over the 131-seat Thane Municipal Corporation getting 60 seats, the NCP bagging 31 and the BJP wining 21. In Ulhasnagar, the BJP grabbed 32 seats and Shiv Sena 25 of the total 78 seats. The NCP got four, Congress got one and independents and others grabbed 16. Nagpur went the BJP way with the party bagging 91 of the civic body’s 151 seats. The Congress got 23, and the NCP bagged one seat.

In Nashik, the BJP appeared on way to controlling the civic body, winning 55 seats out of 112 seats. The Shiv Sena got 35 seats, while the ruling Maharashtra Navnirman Sena was relegated to just three. The Congress and NCP fared better than MNS with six and five seats respectively. The BJP was faring well in Amravati with wins in 44 seats out of 87 seats followed by the Congress with 12 seats and Shiv Sena with seven.

In Solapur Municipal Corporation, a Congress bastion, the BJP appeared in a commanding position with leads in 25 out of 102 seats, followed by Shiv Sena in 10 and Congress in six. Ditto was the position in Akola where BJP led in 20 out of 80 seats with Congress trailing at 10, the MNS in five and others in 10 seats. The BJP also scored handsomely in Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena strongholds in other 11 Zilla Parishads and 118 Panchayat Samitis across the state.