The first joint electoral contest by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in the BEST Employees’ Co-operative Credit Society elections ended in a humiliating defeat on Wednesday, as the parties’ joint panel failed to win a single position in the polls.
Contesting under the ‘Utkarsh’ panel for 19 of the 21 seats, the Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance failed to win a single post, effectively ending the Shiv Sena’s nine-year-old hold on the cooperative.
The credit society has 15,000 Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) employees as its members. Of these, 10,000 voted on Monday.
With the BEST being dominated by Marathi-speaking staffers, the Thackeray cousins’ defeat is being seen as a major blow, especially ahead the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls and in the backdrop of recently held ‘Marathi pride’ rally and issues raised by the two brothers over Marathi.
While transport union leader Shashank Rao’s panel swept 14 seats, the Sahakar Samruddhi panel, backed by the BJP and the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, claimed the remaining seven seats (4 BJP, 2 Shinde Sena, and 1 SC/ST Union).
The election had drawn political attention as it was the first joint electoral contest by the Thackeray cousins ahead of the upcoming municipal and local body polls in Maharashtra.
Despite acknowledging the MNS’s limited presence in BEST, the alliance had sought a trial run for broader electoral coordination.
Polling on August 18 was largely smooth, though allegations of cash distribution surfaced.
Counting was delayed by heavy rainfall, with results finally declared early Wednesday morning at 3 am.
Political observers see the outcome as a setback for the Thackerays’ attempts to build a coordinated Opposition front in the state, highlighting the limits of the alliance in the city’s civic and political sphere.
