Uddhav Thackeray Defiant as BJP Dominates Maharashtra Civic Elections
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief says the party stands for an enduring ideology as Mahayuti tightens its grip on local bodies, including Mumbai’s civic corporation.
New Delhi, Jan 24 : Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Friday struck a defiant note in the wake of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance’s sweeping performance in Maharashtra’s civic elections, asserting that his party represents an ideology that cannot be erased through electoral victories.
Addressing party workers in Mumbai during events marking the birth centenary of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav rejected suggestions that recent poll results signalled the end of the Sena. He said political opponents were mistaken if they believed electoral dominance could extinguish the movement’s core identity.
Describing Shiv Sena as a force rooted in the rights of “sons of the soil” and the aspirations of the marginalised, Thackeray said the party’s ideological foundation ensured its survival beyond electoral setbacks.
BJP-led alliance tightens control
His remarks followed the Mahayuti alliance’s emphatic showing in local body elections, where it secured control of 25 out of 29 municipal corporations across the state. In Mumbai’s 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the alliance crossed the majority mark with 118 seats.
The BJP emerged as the largest single party in the BMC with 89 seats, while the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won 29. The outcome marked the end of the Thackeray family’s nearly 30-year dominance of Mumbai’s civic administration.
Opposition space for UBT faction
Despite the setback, the Shiv Sena (UBT) retained a significant presence in the BMC, emerging as the principal opposition with 65 seats. Contesting in alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the UBT-led Sena secured over 7.1 lakh votes, accounting for just over 13 per cent of the total vote share, while the MNS added six seats.
The Congress finished with 24 seats, followed by smaller parties including the AIMIM, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Samajwadi Party and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
Political observers say the results underline the Mahayuti’s organisational strength at the local level, while also indicating that the UBT-led Sena continues to retain a core support base in Mumbai’s civic politics.
