Maharashtra civic polls: Devendra Fadnavis reaffirms his position among allies; Uddhav puts up a brave fight

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda of ‘Hindutva’ and ‘vikas’ further asserted the BJP's dominance in Maharashtra politics as the saffron party and its Maha Yuti allies swept the municipal corporation elections winning two dozen of the 29 civic bodies including the financial capital of Mumbai.

With this, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the architect of the unprecedented victory, further cemented his position as the undisputed leader in state as well as national politics.

Besides, 'Deva Bhau', as the astute politician and trouble-shooter is popularly known, ensured that the two key allies — Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, fondly called Bhai and NCP led by Ajit Pawar, lovingly called Dada — had enough takeaway messages from the results indicating that his position as the CM is unquestionable.

Fadnavis dealt a blow to Pawar, who chose to ally with Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) in the family bastion of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad while ensuring that the results speak for themselves and kept Shinde in check.

“From the trends so far, we are sure that we will come (to power) in 25 places,” he said, adding: “The BJP offered a ‘vikas’ (developmental) agenda. We put it before the people and they responded positively. We have received a record-breaking mandate in many municipal corporations and it underscores that people want honesty and development. That is why people voted for the BJP…people showed their faith in Hindutva…anyone who believes in Indian culture and our ancient culture believes in Hindutva.”

Fadnavis also invoked late Balasaheb Thackeray saying that the BJP has the blessings of the late Shiv Sena supremo.

With the BJP all set to have its Mayor in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the first time, a post that had eluded the party since its formation, it's the biggest New Year gift from Fadnavis to Modi and BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah, who had dreamt of establishing a triple-engine sarkar in Mumbai.

In the process, Fadnavis ended the quarter-of-a-century rule of the Thackerays in Mumbai though Uddhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and Raj, the MNS founder-president, survived to fight another day. The reunification did not bring in the desired results for the cousins.

However, if one compares Shinde and Uddhav, the latter won more seats - in what comes as an alarm bell for the man who split the Shiv Sena with BJP’s help.

In the city where the Congress was born, the grand old party has been pushed to the brink but has kept hopes high.

Ambedkar’s VBA makes presence

The Prakash Ambedker-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has made its presence felt as 12 of its corporators were elected from Nanded and Latur in Marathwada and Akola in Vidarbha. In Mumbai, where it had an alliance with the Congress, it did not gain much, but the alliance helped the grand old party, which got considerable votes from the VBA vote bank. For almost a decade, there has been a war of words between the Congress leadership and Ambedkar, who is a two-time Lok Sabha MP and one-term Rajya Sabha MP and the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. If the alliance with Congress continues and expands, it can be seen as widening of the Maha Vikas Aghadi-INDIA bloc.

Uddhav shows 'Tiger Zinda Hai'

After the June-July 2023 split of the Shiv Sena, the Thackeray brand came into question. However, the fight that Uddhav put up with his cousin Raj, shows that they are the real inheritors of late Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy.

Ironically, the BMC defeat came just a week before Balasaheb’s birth centenary on January 23 and six months prior to the diamond jubilee celebrations of the party he founded on 19 June 1966. Over the past three of years, BJP leaders and Shinde have been claiming the legacy of Balasaheb, but the results despite the defeat shows ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’.

AIMIM's magic in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) managed to win in 100-plus seats across Maharashtra in the municipal corporation elections.

The AIMIM won the 33 seats in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the divisional headquarters of Marathwada region. Couple of years ago, the city was renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from the earlier Aurangabad.

In Malegaon in Nashik district, the AIMIM won 20 seats, 15 seats in Amravati, 14 in Nanded Waghala, 10 in Dhule, 2 in Jalna.

“The AIMIM is showing remarkable progress. This is the result of the hard work of our party, our president Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi, Akbaruddin Owaisi and all our leaders who campaigned tirelessly across Maharashtra, as well as leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Hyderabad, and other regions,” AIMIM national spokesperson Waris Pathan said. “By God's grace, you will find that the people have blessed AIMIM with a high number of votes across Maharashtra. We have won in places and are leading in places,” the former MLA said.

“I sincerely thank the people of Aurangabad from the bottom of my heart. I offer my gratitude to the Almighty for accepting all our prayers,” said AIMIM’s Maharashtra unit chief Imtiaz Jaleel,” he said about victory from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.