The Maharashtra civic body election results have turned out to be a big boost for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which managed to take over the Mumbai bastion from Shiv Sena after over 25 years.
Amid the mega BJP-Thackerays battle, there is some good news for the Congress as well.
The election proved to be a food for thought for at least four parties- Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS, which together tried to bank on Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy, and the two rival NCP factions, which despite a temporary ‘merger’ failed to materialize support in the Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad bastion.
Congress, which went solo in for the local polls, failed to make any headway in Mumbai, however, its performance in the civic polls in the state was better than Thackeray cousins’ alliance or the Pawars.
Despite going solo and fighting only on 528 seats of the total 2,869, the grand-old party managed to get 226 seats across the civic bodies.
As per the trends at 3 pm on Friday, the party was at fourth position in terms of seat in Mumbai, while it remained the third largest across the 29 civic polls. In the BMC polls, the party won 10 of the 167 seats it contested.
Congress leading in 5 municipalities
The BJP emerged as the largest party in the Maharashtra civic body elections with 1,172 seats, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena was second with 200 seats and Congress at third with 227 seats.
While the BJP dominated, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Panvel, Kalyan Dombivli, Nagpur, Congress maintained its lead in Bhiwandi Nizampur, Kolhapur, Amravati, Chandrapur and Latur. The party has crossed the half-way make in Latur.
The party’s performance in the state is not short of remarkable as the party contested 528 seats across Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations.
This is the first time the party decided to go solo since 1999 over shifting alliances and legacy factor.
Congress’ all-time lows to all-time highs
The Congress went solo in Maharashtra comes after the Maha Vikas Aghadi disintegrated after Uddav Thackeray decided to enter into alliance with Raj Thackeray and Sharad Pawar’s faction aligning with Ajit Pawar’s faction.
Congress arguably reached its peak in Maharashtra in 2019, when the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance split after the polls, with undivided Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, formed government in the state, in alliance with Congress and undivided NCP.
However, over two years later, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed after the Shiv Sena split, with Eknath Shinde’s faction going with the BJP.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress, once again managed to get the spotlight after winning 13 seats, the highest in the state. The party fought in alliance with Uddhav’s Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction. The Lok Sabha performance fueled the party’s stature in the state, which would burst months later during the assembly polls.
In the 2024 assembly polls, the Maha Vikas Aghadi lost to BJP-led Mahayuti, with a massive boost for BJP. Congress remained on fifth place, with 16 seats.
More than a year later, the party has retained its third position across Maharashtra, outperforming Uddhav’s Shiv Sena and NCP alliance.
In Mumbai, the party is only next to BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and Uddhav’s Shiv Sena. The grand-old-party is ahead of MNS and NCP factions.