'Shiv Sena-UBT will install its mayor if...': What Uddhav Thackeray said on BJP's big win in BMC polls

Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections by 'betrayal' and it wants to mortgage Mumbai, but pointed out that Mumbaikars will never forget. However, Thackeray said that his party will install its mayor in Mumbai "if the God is willing".

Interacting with Shiv Sena (UBT) workers at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai a day after the saffron party wrested the BMC from his party, the former Maharashtra chief minister said that the BJP believes it has finished off the Shiv Sena (UBT), but that has not happened. He further said that the BJP used all means but could not buy loyalty. 

"The BJP couldn't finish off Shiv Sena on the ground," the Sena (UBT) chief said. "They (BJP) have registered victory by betrayal for mortgaging Mumbai. Marathi manoos will never forgive this sin. The battle has not ended, but it has just begun."

BJP wrests control of BMC, Thackerays fail to impress

The 227-member BMC has a majority mark of 114. The BJP alone has won 89 seats, and along with its alliance partner, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena which won 29 seats, the Mahayuti's tally stands at 118. Thackeray's faction, which had ruled the BMC for decades, was the second largest party with 65 seats. 

This year's BMC elections saw a reunion of the Thackeray brothers, with Sena UBT and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) forming an alliance. However, it seems that the alliance failed to attract the voters, with the MNS winning just six of the 53 seats it contested. 

The Congress, which had ruled Maharashtra for years, also failed to impress and won just 24 seats. The grand old party had contested the elections in an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). 

Ajit Pawar's National Congress Party (NCP), another Mahayuti member, won three seats. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) won just one seat. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Samajwadi Party bagged eight and two seats, respectively.