Mumbai BMC Election Results: Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the BJP–Shiv Sena-led Mahayuti’s strong performance in the civic elections was due to its focus on development. He said the alliance will form mayors in 25 of the 29 municipal corporations in the state. Addressing party workers at the BJP office in Mumbai, Mr. Fadnavis paid tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for the alliance’s success in the local body polls.
"I bow down to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the architect of India's Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar. Today, first of all, I want to thank the citizens of Maharashtra for giving a grand victory to the BJP in the municipal elections. BJP and Mahayuti are going to form their 25 mayors after these elections," he said.
Fadnavis said the civic poll results, coming after the Mahayuti’s win in the Assembly elections, showed people’s continued trust in PM Modi. “We faced these elections with a vision of development in the leadership of Modi ji. And voters have reciprocated well to our development agenda. And that is why we have a record-breaking mandate in several civic bodies. It is clear that people have certified that they want an agenda of development. These results have also clarified that Maharashtra still trusts Modi ji. I also remember Balasaheb Thackeray on the occasion," he said.
He said the alliance would work to improve cities and focus on the poor and middle class. “"We will transform the cities wherever we rule, and we will try to change the lives of all the poor and middle-class people of those cities. The soul of our work and our thought is Hindutva, and we are very proud of it. So for us, development and Hindutva cannot be separated. Our soul of being Hindu has taken us to the people of Maharashtra, and we are not those who believe in narrow-minded Hindutva, but we believe in an expanded form of Hindutva. Our Hindutva is inclusive of all those who believe themselves to be part of the Indian civilisation,” CM added.
Fadnavis also urged party workers to remain disciplined. "I want to advise all BJP workers that they must keep this in mind that when we have been elected by the voters now we have even bigger responsibility to behave ourselves, and we should not be swept away by this victory, and we should be responsible about this victory because this victory has come to us due to the vision of development of PM Modi. Before coming here, I called Eknath Shinde ji, and I congratulate him, as Mahayuti we have emerged victorious," he added.
As per trends available till 6 p.m., the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance was leading in 124 of the 227 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), while parties led by the Thackeray brothers were at 71 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the BMC with 94 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena was leading in 30 seats. Shiv Sena (UBT) was ahead in 62 seats and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in nine. The Congress led in 15 seats and the NCP (SP) in one.
The Mahayuti also outperformed the Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar-led factions in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The alliance crossed the majority mark in Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Jalna and Vasai-Virar.
(With inputs from ANI)