Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday expressed gratitude to voters for delivering a “grand victory” to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the saffron party, along with its ally Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, edged closer to dominating the state’s civic bodies’ elections. He highlighted the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the party’s success, saying, “We faced these elections with a vision of development under the leadership of PM Modi. That is why we got a record-breaking mandate. These results show that Maharashtra relies heavily on PM Modi,” news agency ANI reported.
The BJP-led Mahayuti appears set for a commanding victory in Maharashtra, leading across most of the state’s 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai (BMC), Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nashik, Thane, and Navi Mumbai.
According to official figures, the BJP has won 56 wards in Mumbai, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena secured 22 wards. The Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, meanwhile, emerged victorious in 44 wards. With counting still underway, television reports indicated the BJP leading in 98 wards and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena ahead in 26. These elections mark the first BMC polls since the 2022 split in Shiv Sena, which had previously controlled India’s richest civic body for 25 years. The BMC oversees an annual budget exceeding ₹74,400 crore.