Thane TMC results: Eknath Shinde Sena sweeps stronghold, Thackerays falter
Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde won 75 seats in Thane, with ally BJP adding 28, as the Mahayuti crossed the majority mark and rivals suffered heavy losses.
The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has won 75 wards in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), reaffirming Thane as his undisputed stronghold. Alliance partner the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 28 seats, comfortably pushing the coalition past the majority mark of 66 required to control the civic body.
The much-hyped combine of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) seems to be struggling heavily in the race. Both Uddhav Thackeray's party and the MNS are ahead in one seat each. Meanwhile, the NCP faction headed by Sharad Pawar is leading in four wards. On the other hand, the NCP helmed by his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is ahead in eight seats.
The Ajit Pawar-led party is part of Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance, which also consists of Shinde Sena and the BJP. While its two allies joined hands in Thane, the NCP stayed out of the coalition and contested solo. Similarly, the Congress, which is a major constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) opposition bloc, decided to contest the election on its own.
Elections to the 29 urban bodies were held after a gap of several years, with terms of most of them having ended between 2020 and 2023. Thane and eight other of these municipal corporations fall in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the most urbanised belt in India. The results of the latest TMC polls were being considered to be crucial for optics, as the last time elections to the urban body were held in 2017, both the Shiv Sena and the NCP were undivided. While the united Shiv Sena had won by single-handedly bagging 67 of the 131 seats, the undivided NCP had emerged victorious in 35 wards.