Mumbai: After his party’s crushing defeat in the Maharashtra assembly elections, Uddhav Thackeray has turned his attention to the BMC elections. India’s richest municipal corporation could become a financial lifeline for Shiv Sena (UBT). Thackeray will begin meetings from Thursday to review the state of the party in BMC wards. Shiv Sena (UBT) is also thinking of going it alone in the BMC elections.
Mr. Thackeray will hold meetings from December 26 to 29 on a report submitted by party observers. On the first day, he will hold discussions with branch heads and other party officials from Borivali, Dahisar, Magathane, Dindoshi, Charkop, Kandivali and Malad regions. On December 27, reports from areas including Andheri (East), Andheri (West), Vile Parle, Bandra (East), Bandra (West), Chandivali, Kurla and Kalina will be discussed. On the next day, central suburbs like Mulund, Vikhroli, Bhadhup, Mankhurd, Ghatkopar (East), Ghatkopar (West), Anushakti Nagar and Chembur will be discussed.
“On the fourth day, Mr. Thackeray will review the regions of South Mumbai and Central Mumbai,” the Shiv Sena leader said. The areas to be discussed on December 29 are Colaba, Malabar Hill, Mumbadevi, Sewri, Worli, Mahim, Sion Koliwada and Dharavi.
After the assembly election results, a section of the Shiv Sena (UBT) was of the view that the party should leave the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and contest the upcoming elections on its own. The Shiv Sena (UBT) managed to win only 20 of the nearly 100 assembly seats it contested. It won 10 assembly seats in Mumbai.
Subsequently, the party appointed 36 observers for the Mumbai seats. “The observers have submitted their report to the party chief, which will be discussed with local leaders and their opinion will also be sought,” said the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.
The Shiv Sena had controlled the BMC, India’s richest municipality, for 25 consecutive years from 1997 to 2022, before its split. The BMC has been under administrator control since 2022 as elections have not been held since then.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party contested the April-May Lok Sabha elections under the banner of MVA along with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. It contested four of the city’s six Lok Sabha seats and won three. However, it could not repeat its impressive performance in the assembly elections, as it won only 10 out of 24 of the total 36 seats in the city.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) is also facing the challenge of finding a strong candidate for the BMC elections. Some of its corporators who won the 2017 elections have joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. After the Assembly debacle, many former corporators are expected to join Mr. Shinde’s party or the BJP.