Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday alleged that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was “scared of the BJP” after the Shinde-led Sena moved its newly elected Mumbai corporators to a five-star hotel following the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results. Breaking his silence after the Mahayuti wrested control of the civic body, Uddhav suggested that the Shinde Sena faction could face another split amid an intense struggle for control of India’s richest municipal corporation.
Referring to the 2022 rebellion that split the Shiv Sena and led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, he said that a party which has fractured once could do so again. Uddhav’s remarks came amid reports that all 29 Shiv Sena corporators had been asked to stay at a luxury hotel to prevent alleged horse-trading or poaching attempts.
In the recently concluded municipal elections, the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance secured victories in 25 of the 29 civic bodies across Maharashtra. In Mumbai, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats in the 227-member BMC but fell short of the majority mark, making the support of the Shinde-led Sena crucial. The Mahayuti’s victory brought an end to the Thackeray family’s nearly three-decade-long control of the BMC.
Despite the setback, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena, in alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), put up a strong fight. The Uddhav Sena–MNS combine won 71 seats, retaining influence in several wards, particularly in Mumbai’s Marathi-speaking areas.
Uddhav maintained that his party remained politically relevant in the city and reiterated his desire to see a mayor from his faction, even while acknowledging the lack of numbers. He accused the ruling alliance of using power, money and state machinery to engineer defections, but asserted that grassroots support for his party remained intact.
Concluding his remarks, Uddhav Thackeray said the political contest in Mumbai was far from over, signalling that the battle for the BMC was still unfolding.
