As the BJP-Shiv Sena combine moved closer to a winning figure in the BMC elections on Friday (January 16, 2026) night, it was clear that Uddhav Thackeray had lost control of the city corporation for the first time after ruling it continuously for over 25 years.
Out of 84 seats in the 2017 elections, his party Shiv Sena (UBT), which was formed three years ago, won 64 seats this time. Eknath Shinde, who is now a Shiv Sena contender, won only 27 seats in Mumbai. The results show a consolidation of the Marathi vote bank after the Thackerays defeated Eknath Shinde in key Marathi constituencies in Mumbai.
“This shows that in Mumbai the Shiv Sena belongs to the Thackerays,” said a senior political leader.
File photo of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at a press conference at Shivsena Bhavan in Mumbai | Photo credit: ANI
Blaming Eknath Shinde for the defeat, the Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed that the BJP could never have seen its Mayor in Mumbai if it was not for Mr Shinde.
“Marathi population will remember Eknath Shinde as ‘Jaichanda’,” wrote Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut on Friday evening. The post mentions a king of the 12th century Gahadavala dynasty ruling Kannauj and Varanasi, infamous in legends as a traitor said to have helped Muhammad of Ghor defeat his rival Prithviraj Chauhan.
Eknath Shinde demanded that his party contest 100 of the 227 seats in the BMC when they discussed seat-sharing with the BJP. After tough negotiations that lasted a week, the party entered the fray for 90 seats.
Thackeray is not routed
Although Uddhav Thackeray lost the BMC, the results indicated that he was not defeated. If anything, it has emerged as a contender for the Marathi vote bank, winning the second highest number of seats after the BJP.
Friday’s trends showed the BJP winning 87 seats after contesting 137. Mr. Uddhava Thackeray’s party won 64.
Asked if the result would have been different if the BJP had given fewer seats to Eknath Shinde, a senior BJP leader said, “It is difficult to predict. It would lead to a narrative that the BJP was unfair to the Marathi party, the Marathi manoos. Shinde’s party would not take kindly to it. If we had given them a few seats, it would have hurt our prospects. The sentiment is that the BJP is working against the Marathis and wants to hand over the city to foreigners.”
He said the consolidation of Konkani Muslims and lower middle class Marathis benefited Uddhav Thackeray. “Anyway, the Marathi vote bank consolidated in favor of the Thackerays. That’s why they could win so many seats in Mumbai. The fear that the BJP is anti-Marathi has been successfully instilled in the Marathi population to some extent,” he said.
In the 2017 elections, the BJP won 82 seats, the best performance in the BMC by leaps and bounds. Until then, the party had traditionally stayed away from the BMC, in a tacit agreement with the Shiv Sena that the latter would look after Mumbai while the BJP looked after the rest of the state.
The power equations changed rapidly in Maharashtra after 2019, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena and pitting Uddhav Thackeray against the BJP’s staunch opposition.
This time, the BJP has bettered its best performance in the BMC, with an eye on ‘Shat Pratishat BJP’ in the 2029 elections. Out of 36 MLAs in Mumbai, the BJP has 15.
But the Shiv Sena’s poor strike rate in Mumbai, compared to that of the Shiv Sena (UBT), showed who the city considered the real Shiv Sena.
A senior BJP leader said that though the Marathi vote bank consolidated in favor of the Thackerays, the BJP also did not lose its core Marathi vote bank. “So the non-Marathi vote bank consolidated in favor of the BJP. And our core Marathi voters also voted for us. That showed us victory,” analyzed one of the leaders.
BMC SURVEY
BMC SURVEY | Video Credit: The Hindu
Published – 17 Jan 2026 0:14 IST