The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results mark a decisive turning point for Uddhav Thackeray and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), ending a 25-year grip over India’s richest civic body – an institution that was not just a symbol of power, but also the party’s single biggest source of political influence and financial muscle.
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For the first time since its inception, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which governs India’s financial capital and commands the country’s largest municipal budget, will be run by the BJP.
The party emerged as the single-largest force in the 227-member house with 89 seats, as the ruling Mahayuti swept 23 of Maharashtra’s 29 municipal corporations – an outcome that significantly strengthens chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and entrenches the BJP’s urban dominance.
Focused fight, diminished prize
Fighting with limited resources and his back to the wall, Uddhav Thackeray mounted a sharply focused Mumbai-centric campaign, relying on nativist rhetoric, welfare messaging for the ‘Marathi manoos’, and the Sena’s traditional grassroots network.
A tactical reconciliation with cousin Raj Thackeray was also aimed at consolidating the Marathi vote. While this strategy helped the Shiv Sena (UBT) retain strong pockets in south-central Mumbai, from Dadar to Byculla, it could not stop the party from losing control of the BMC.
Team Uddhav wins a battle, but loses the war
The Sena (UBT) finished with 65 seats, well behind the BJP, but the outcome was not an outright wipeout. Compared with the rival faction led by Eknath Shinde, Thackeray held his ground in Mumbai, reinforcing his claim to the political legacy of the Shiv Sena founded by Bal Thackeray. Shinde’s Sena won 29 seats but failed to dislodge Uddhav Thackeray as the principal Sena face in the city.
Why the loss hits Sena (UBT) hard
The loss of the BMC is a structural blow. Control of the rich civic body had given the undivided Shiv Sena unmatched access to patronage networks, visibility, and organisational strength for decades. Without it, Thackeray’s party faces a future with fewer resources and reduced leverage, even as Mumbai’s changing demographics make a purely nativist pitch harder to sustain.
At the same time, the results reshuffle the Opposition space. With the Congress reduced to its lowest-ever tally in the BMC, Thackeray emerges as the de facto Opposition leader in Mumbai.
That status, however, comes with immediate challenges: preventing defections in the wake of defeat, navigating the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and deciding his own political path as his term in the Legislative Council ends in May.
The road ahead for Uddhav Thackeray
To remain relevant beyond his traditional bastions, Uddhav Thackeray will need to reimagine the Sena (UBT)’s politics, broadening its appeal beyond the core Marathi voter and rebuilding a coalition capable of taking on a BJP that now controls both tiers of urban governance.
The BMC result, then, is a moment of reckoning. Uddhav Thackeray has lost the institutional stronghold that once defined Sena dominance. But by retaining a committed core and asserting symbolic control over the Thackeray legacy in Mumbai, he has preserved a platform, albeit a far narrower one, from which to attempt a political reset.
(With inputs from Shailesh Gaikwad and Hepzi Anthony)