The much-talked reunion of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray failed in the elections to the 227 wards of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), where the Mahayuti, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, has wrested power from the Uddhav Sena. By the time this story was filed, the Mahayuti won around 110 seats. On the other hand, the Thackeray brothers were trailing with a win around 65 seats.
The Thackeray brothers had reunited after more than 20, an alliance which many considered as the last role of the dice, especially for Uddhav Thackeray, whose party was split following Eknath Shinde's rebellion. Shinde's party was declared the real Shiv Sena and the bow-arrow symbol was allotted to it. Similarly, stakes were also high for Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
However, the BMC results have shown that their alliance have failed. Shinde Sena leaders have said that the Thackeray's alliance has completely failed, as the people voted for "accountability and development" in Mumbai and rejected the drama perpetuated by two brothers. "Today, it's clear that there are only two brothers in Mumbai's politics: Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde. Their last name is development," Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora told news agency ANI.
UBT rejects BMC election results
However, the Uddhav Sena has rejected the BMC election results, with party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut saying that the figures that are being circulated are false. Speaking to reporters, Raut also criticised the State Election Commission (SEC) and claimed that several electronic voting machines (EVMs) were not working properly during voting on Thursday (January 15).
"The voting pattern that has been going on in a city like Mumbai is a serious matter. Names of thousands of people, who have even voted in the Assembly elections, are missing in areas where Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS or Congress... Yesterday, a meeting was held between the senior BJP leaders and the Election Commission staff, why? The Code of Conduct is still in place," he said.
Talking about all the 29 civic bodies in Maharashtra, the Sena UBT-MNS alliance had won just 161 out of the 2869 seats by the time this story was filed. Meanwhile, the BJP was the biggest winner, winning over 1,300 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena which won 394 seats. The Congress, an alliance partner of the UBT, won 315 seats.
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