MUMBAI: For years, they’ve wanted it, now they have it. BJP is finally set to assume control of India’s richest civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and get its own mayor of Mumbai.After almost 30 years at the helm of BMC, the Thackerays have lost control of their last bastion of power to the Mahayuti alliance, led by former ally-turned-foe BJP, and erstwhile loyalist Eknath Shinde.On Friday, the Mahayuti crossed the halfway mark of 114 in the 227-member house, but not by much: BJP won 89 seats and Shinde’s Sena 29. In effect, BJP will need Shinde’s backing for big decisions.
The Thackerays won 71, retaining many wards in the Marathi heartland. But it didn’t work in other urban centres, including Thane and Navi Mumbai. BJP secured 21.6% vote share followed by Sena (UBT) at 13.2%. Sena polled 5% and Congress 4.4%. On the face of it, Uddhav’s Sena UBT, dubbed “nakli” by the BJP brass, bagging twice the number of seats won by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena may look like a moral victory for Uddhav. However, in the process, the Thackerays have been dislodged by BJP in the BMC. The BMC was not just any other civic body for the Thackerays. It was their citadel for decades. A nerve centre that provided them with all the needed resources and the patronage for organisational growth. This is why Uddhav joined hands with his estranged cousin, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, and they campaigned hard to save their fortress.Both recalled 1961 Samyukta Maharashtra movement in which their grandfather, the late Prabodhankar Thackeray, participated, and claimed BJP was planning to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra and merge it with Gujarat.CM Devendra Fadnavis, who led BJP’s campaign, repeatedly refuted the charge to ensure Thackerays’ Mumbai and Marathi “Asmita” (pride) and “Astitva” (existence) card did not stick this time.The Thackerays’ arguments about unemployment and neglect of “sons of the soil” were countered with a “Global Mumbai” narrative by Fadnavis. BJP also fielded over 90 Marathi candidates for the BMC and announced that the next mayor would be Marathi.Three years ago, BJP not only facilitated splits in Shiv Sena and NCP but sowed confusion among cadres and traditional voters as both factions claimed their brands’ legacies.”Many of our supporters were agitated when Ajit Pawar joined the Fadnavis govt after the NCP split. They questioned why we needed him. Hope they now understand our larger plan,” a BJP neta told TOI.BJP’s operation in western Maharashtra had been on since 2014, much before NCP split in 2023. Over the years, BJP cemented its presence in cooperative sugar mills, banks and milk unions – NCP’s backbone. Several Pawar loyalists and Congress netas who dominated the cooperative sector shifted to BJP, weakening Pawar’s base in the “sugar bowl”.Friday’s results underline that in the “new Maharashtra”, no brand is too big to fail. Go to Source
