With the municipal elections approaching, political activity in the state has intensified. A major meeting of the Mahayuti alliance was held in Worli, Mumbai, attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The event drew strong attention as Shinde delivered a sharp and aggressive speech.
Referring to the coming together of the Thackeray faction and the MNS for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections, Shinde questioned their commitment to Marathi interests. He asked what real work had been done for the Marathi community and remarked that Balasaheb Thackeray would never have accepted such political alignments.
Emphasizing development over disruption, Shinde said Mumbai requires leadership focused on progress rather than politics that slow growth. He expressed confidence that the Mahayuti alliance would emerge victorious and vowed to rid the city of corruption and poor governance.
Taking aim at Uddhav Thackeray, Shinde alleged that Marathi voters were misled due to self centered politics. He stressed that development should take priority over emotional appeals. According to him, the people of Mumbai are now more aware and will support leaders who deliver results rather than those who only make promises.
With the withdrawal of nomination forms complete, the stage is now set for a high-octane campaign battle between the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)-MNS alliance for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election.
The Shiv Sena had held power in the BMC for nearly 25 years. Until 2017, the Shiv Sena (then united) and the BJP jointly governed the civic body. However, in the 2017 civic elections, the two parties contested separately. The undivided Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party with 84 seats, while the BJP followed closely with 82 in the 227-member civic body.
In 2022, Eknath Shinde engineered a split in the Shiv Sena, forcing Uddhav to step down as chief minister. The rebellion led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, after which Shinde joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a new government in Maharashtra.