Hours after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results were announced, hectic parleys began in Mumbai with reports of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde shifting newly elected Shiv Sena corporators to a Bandra hotel as a precaution amid fears of defections. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) struck a defiant note, stating that the ‘battle isn't over yet' even as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party lost control of India’s richest civic body.
On Friday, the BMC verdict drew curtains on the undivided Shiv Sena’s nearly three-decade-old grip in Mumbai – with the BJP emerging as the single largest party. However, if all the opposition parties were to come together, their combined strength would reach 106 seats — just eight short of a majority, keeping the BMC contest finely poised.
Slim margin – what are the numbers behind Shinde's hotel move?
In the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the majority mark is 114. As per the final tally, the BJP has secured 89 seats, while its ally – Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena bagged 29, giving the ruling Mahayuti alliance a total of 118 — a slim margin of just four seats beyond the majority mark.
Besides, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, which had contested solo despite being in the Mahayuti, won three wards.
How well did the Opposition score?
On the Opposition side, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Nirman Sena (MNS), led by the Thackeray cousins, and NCP (Sharad Pawar) joined hands to take on the BJP-led alliance.
While Sena (UBT) finished second by securing 65 seats, MNS bagged six seats, and NCP (SP) one – totalling their strength to 72 seats.
Separately, Indian National Congress bagged 24 seats with its ‘solo act’; NCP-SP - one; AIMIM- eight and Samajwadi Party - two seats.
Together, if all opposition parties were to close ranks to block the BJP-led Mahayuti from taking control of the BMC, their combined strength would rise to 106 — still eight seats short of the majority mark, but close enough to keep the contest finely balanced.
Now with control over India’s richest civic body at stake, this narrow cushion leaves little room for error. Amid fears of last-minute defections or poaching that could tip the balance, Shinde has moved his newly elected corporators to a hotel, aiming to keep the numbers intact during a politically sensitive phase.
