BJP ends three decades of Thackeray hold on Mumbai, checks Pawar clout in Pune
The BJP and its allies alone or with its allies managed to win 25 out of 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kalyan Dombivali, Nashik, Thane, Navi Mumbai, VasaiVirar, Mira Bhayander. BJP is also leading in Ulhasnagar.
Trends show that voters in urban bodies prefer the BJP. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said he owed the win to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and the BJP’s development plan and encouraged party workers and winning candidates to remain humble even in victory.
One of the major gains of the BJP is the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, where it managed to come to power by defeating the UBT Sena and MNS in alliance with the Shiv Sena (Shinde). The BJP broke the almost three-decade-long dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena and emerged as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
The result marks a significant shift in Mumbai’s power structure. The performance of the BJP was remarkable as it not only managed to defeat the UBT Sena in Mumbai but also retained the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporations, where it fought its ally NCP (Ajit), which had allied with the NCP (SP). The Congress managed to maintain its dominance in Latur while winning more seats than the BJP in Bhiwandi and Kolhapur. The party also had a good winning performance in Chandrapur, which is considered to be the stronghold of the BJP.
The elections are important not only because of the performance of the BJP and the increasing relegation of the opposition in local elections, but also because of the performance of the AIMIM. AIMIM came to power in Malegaon civic body and won 95 seats in 26 municipal corporations. AIMIM has also depleted Congress’ support base
