'Marathi Manoos save Mumbai': Final battle for identity and existence, says Shiv Sena(UBT) in Saamana

Mumbai, Dec 17 Invoking the spirit of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Wednesday claimed that the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in particular, and 28 other civic bodies are a battle to protect Mumbai from being "carved away" from Maharashtra, terming the electoral exercise as a decisive struggle for the "existence of the Marathi Manoos".

The party, its mouthpiece 'Saamana' said the existence of Mumbai was at stake, and if the city, built through the sacrifice of 106 martyrs, is lost, the Marathi people will face "a lifetime of slavery". It gave a rallying cry for the Marathi people to "pick up the Bhavani sword of identity" and enter the electoral battlefield with the chant, "Har Har Mahadev!"

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the Saamana editorial said the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has announced elections for 29 municipal corporations, including high-stakes Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. "After a prolonged seven-and-a-half-year delay, the SEC has scheduled polling for January 15, 2026, with results to be declared the following day, January 16. The announcement follows a Supreme Court directive mandating that all local body elections in the state be completed by January 31, leaving the 'Rahman Dacoit gang', which had infiltrated 29 corporations, with no choice."

The editorial alleged that the current Fadnavis-Shinde government intentionally deferred these elections to facilitate "looting" through the appointment of administrators. It claimed that the ruling coalition only proceeded due to judicial intervention, expressing concern that funds allegedly misappropriated during the administrative period will be funnelled into the upcoming campaigns.

The editorial further said, “While the Model Code of Conduct is in effect, it seems it is only for the opposition. Members of the ruling alliance and their ministers violate the code, laws and rules daily with impunity. Neither the state nor the Central Election Commission pays any attention to these violations because the poll body has become a 'pet cat' of the authorities. In such an unequal environment, this electoral struggle will take place, and the Marathi Manoos must win it at any cost.”

A major point of contention highlighted in the editorial is the state of the voter lists. The editorial claimed that the lists are "riddled with scams", alleging the presence of over 15 lakh duplicate voters across the state, including 1,50,000 in Mumbai alone. "The SEC has reportedly used lists from July 1, 2025, claiming it lacks the authority to add or delete names, though it has implemented a 'double star' marking system to flag potential duplicate voters for field verification. If the Commission does not see this as serious, one must admit it wears a collar of slavery and helplessness put on by the government,” it alleged.

Stepping up the attack against the Mahayuti alliance, the Thackeray camp said that just before the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the state government issued 49 Government Resolutions (GRs) and launched a spree of development projects, which were "deceptive ploys" intended to influence voters.

The editorial questioned the feasibility of election expenditure limits. While limits are set between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 15 lakh depending on the corporation's grade, it alleged that in recent local polls, ruling alliance candidates spent between Rs 100 crore and Rs 150 crore per municipality, with votes being openly bought for as much as Rs 20,000.

Against this backdrop, the Thackeray camp claimed that the authorities would use "Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed (persuasion, money, punishment, and division)" to carve Mumbai away from Maharashtra or to put it up for auction. However, it appealed to the Marathi people not to lose confidence.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor