Maharashtra civic bodies—BJP dominates, reunions fail
BJP’s civic sweep signals stability for Fadnavis—how Mahayuti’s civic triumph will reshape Maharashtra politics
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said his party could not be destroyed, asserting that it represents an ideology rather than a conventional political organisation.
Speaking to party workers in Mumbai during the centenary celebrations of his father, Balasaheb Thackeray, he dismissed suggestions that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could politically eliminate the Shiv Sena. He said such efforts misunderstood the party’s roots and purpose.
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“Shiv Sena is not just a political party. And if the BJP thinks that Shiv Sena will finish it off, you cannot finish Shiv Sena; you cannot destroy Shiv Sena because Shiv Sena is not a party; Shiv Sena is an ideology. Shiv Sena is the ember of the sons of the soil. And Shiv Sena is the torch burning in the hearts of the oppressed; you cannot extinguish it. You absolutely cannot extinguish it,” Thackeray said.
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His remarks come days after the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance recorded a sweeping victory in Maharashtra’s civic elections, including control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
What the BMC results mean for Shiv Sena (UBT)
The Mahayuti alliance won 25 of Maharashtra’s 29 municipal corporations and crossed the majority mark in the 227-member BMC, securing 118 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde won 29.
The result ended the Thackeray family’s nearly three-decade hold over Mumbai’s civic body.
Despite the setback, Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged as the leading opposition party in the BMC with 65 seats. Contesting in alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the UBT-led Sena polled 7,17,736 votes, accounting for 13.13 per cent of the total vote share. The MNS added six seats, polling 74,946 votes.
The Indian National Congress won 24 seats with a 4.44 per cent vote share. Among other parties, the AIMIM secured eight seats, the Nationalist Congress Party won three, the Samajwadi Party two, and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) one.
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