Thackeray brand fails in BEST Credit Society elections

Mumbai, Aug 20 Shiv Sena(UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) alliance failed to secure any seats in the BEST Credit Society elections. Out of 21 candidates, the panel led by labour leader Shashank Rao won 14 seats, and the panel led by BJP legislator Prasad Lad secured seven.

It was the maiden test for the estranged Thackeray brothers, who had come together on the Hindi language issue, and later decided to stay together in view of the upcoming elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.

However, the Thackeray brand has failed to show magic in the BEST elections. It has come as a major blow to both brothers, who are gearing up for the BMC elections. The BJP-led Mahayuti has said that it will win the civic body elections this time.

The five-yearly elections of The Best Employees Co-op Credit Society Ltd were held on Monday. Despite heavy rain, the workers responded overwhelmingly, and a voter turnout of 83 per cent was recorded.

This election was considered to be prestigious for the Thackeray brothers and the BJP, especially MLA Prasad Lad, who had, from day one of the campaign, claimed that the Thackeray brand wouldn’t work and they would not be able to win a single seat.

It was expected that there would be a major fight between the Thackeray brothers and MLA Prasad Lad in this election, as both groups were claiming victory on social media. However, the real contest took place between Prasad Lad's panel and Shashank Rao's panel.

Most of the members of Shiv Sena(UBT)’s labour wing, Kamgar Sena, are members of this credit union, and therefore, the Thackeray brothers were optimistic of scoring a victory. However, due to a lack of preparation, the Kamgar Sena fought the elections, hoping that the Thackeray brand would work and they would be able to ride to victory on the alliance between the two brothers. The Kamgar Sena even nominated a woman activist from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The Shashank Rao panel and Prasad Lad panel, during their campaign, flagged the alleged irregularities committed by the outgoing board of directors, dominated by the Kamgar Sena.

This election was considered a rehearsal for the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation elections. Therefore, the results of this election attracted the attention of not only BEST workers but also political circles and workers from Shiv Sena(UBT) and MNS and also from the BJP.

The election was held at 35 centres, including all the BEST centres and offices. The counting of votes was to take place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at the Wadala depot. However, due to the rain, the counting officials could not arrive on time. Therefore, the counting of votes began after 2 p.m. The counting of votes continued till late at night. Since there were a total of 35 centres and 150 candidates, the counting of the ballot papers was delayed. The election results were announced on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the BJP has targeted the Thackeray brothers after their alliance failed to win a single seat in the Best Credit Society elections. BJP legislator Prasad Lad, in his post on X, taunted, “Thackeray" brand 21 faced 000, 00/21, meaning the brand's boss could not win a single seat...”

On the other hand, state BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye in his post on X said, “If you add up two zeros, where one has nothing left to lose and the other has nothing left to gain, and no matter how many zeros you add to them, the answer to that math is zero, what will happen if you don't recognise the answer that even unschooled children know?... To find the answer to this question, look at the election results of 'Best Kamgar Patpedhi'! Till yesterday, two zeros were challenging us to measure our worth, today they have realized their worth!!”

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