New Delhi: Devendra Fadnavis has pulled off what many in Maharashtra politics thought was close to impossible. In a result that feels less like a routine election outcome and more like a political blockbuster, the BJP has surged toward a near sweep in civic polls across the state, including a historic win in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has pulled off what many in Maharashtra politics thought was close to impossible. In a result that feels less like a routine election outcome and more like a political blockbuster, the BJP has surged towards a near clean sweep in civic polls across the state. This marks a historic win in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Just days before the voting, Fadnavis had confidently said the BJP would break its own records. With the Thackeray cousins reuniting and reviving the Marathi identity pitch, scepticism was natural. But as the counting unfolded, it became clear that Fadnavis had read the ground better than most.
Breaking 30-year fortress
The biggest statement came from Mumbai. For nearly three decades, the BMC had been the Thackeray family’s unshakable stronghold. But this time that grip snapped as the BJP is set to emerge as the single-largest party, giving it the chance to have its own mayor in the country’s financial capital for the first time.
For Fadnavis, this victory is deeply personal as until 2017, the BJP had always played second fiddle to the undivided Shiv Sena in Mumbai. Now, the roles have flipped cementing Fadnavis as the most powerful political figure in the state.
Long game at grassroots
For Fadnavis and the BJP, this moment did not arrive overnight. After losing power in 2019 and later settling for the deputy chief minister’s post in 2022, Fadnavis quietly went back to basics. He focused on building the party ward by ward and booth by booth.
He consolidated the BJP’s traditional support among Gujaratis and North Indians and even reached out to the South Indian communities and steadily worked to chip away at the Sena’s Marathi vote base.
He positioned himself as a firm but relatable Marathi leader, promising a ‘Marathi Hindu’ mayor for Mumbai and even backed it with organisation on the ground.
No star campaign, just strategy
What stood out in this campaign was the absence of national heavyweights. There were no high-decibel rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Amit Shah. This was Fadnavis’s show. The Maharashtra Chief Minister, drawing from his own early days as a Nagpur corporator and later the city’s youngest mayor knew exactly how civic politics works.
Development as calling card
Fadnavis’s clean image and focus on infrastructure played a major role. He got Mumbai its first metro services. Later on, the Atal Setu, the coastal road, BDD chawl redevelopment and the Dharavi project helped him sell a simple pitch that delivery over drama.
By dismantling the Thackeray bastion in Mumbai, Fadnavis has not just won an election rather he has reshaped Maharashtra’s political map setting the tone for what lies ahead including the 2029 Assembly polls.