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The fight for control of the country’s richest municipality has become more intense, with the ruling Shiv Sena winning 84 seats and its former ally BJP bagging 82 in elections to the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
A simple majority in the 227-member House will require the support of 114 corporators, and enable the winning party to install its nominee as Mayor. With the help of allies such as the Republican Party of India (Athavale), the BJP can match the Shiv Sena’s numbers.
Across Maharashtra, the BJP had sweeping wins in the city corporations of Pune, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Nagpur, Akola and Amravati.
A landmark win: Uddhav Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray told reporters that no political party had managed to retain power in a municipality five times in a row, adding that his party’s was a landmark win. However, he did not elaborate on the Sena’s strained relations with the BJP and said that the time was not right to talk of pulling out from the State Government.
He said that there was no immediate need to change the political equations in the State. “What is the rush? Let us enjoy and celebrate the victory,” he said.
However, he also pointed that the mass deletion of names from the voter’s lists in Mumbai was a matter of concern. “Had the names not been deleted, the party would have received more votes. It is a grave problem, which needs detailed investigation,” he said.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was the BJP’s ace campaigner, said that the party’s performance in the BMC elections, was a direct result of the party’s transparency agenda. It also indicated that the people showed complete faith in the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While the BJP and the Shiv Sena were jubilant, the Congress party slipped into depression, having bagged just 31 seats. The party’s Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam accepted moral responsibility for the poor performance and has reportedly offered to resign from the position.
Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena only managed seven seats while Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) bagged nine.
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