Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 18 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya, reacting to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election results, said on Sunday that the Opposition should accept the outcome and come to terms with what he described as a new political reality in Maharashtra.
Speaking to ANI, Somaiya said that the mandate reflected the people's clear rejection of Opposition parties.
"The Opposition should now accept the political reality that they have lost. Their party is finished in Maharashtra," he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Mahayuti allies swept the Maharashtra civic elections, winning 25 of 29 municipal corporations, including the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
This marks a significant shift in power, ending the Thackeray family's nearly three-decade dominance over the BMC. The Mahayuti alliance crossed the majority mark of 114 in the 227-member BMC, securing 118 seats. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats. Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) won 29 seats.
The election was conducted on January 15, with the counting of votes carried out on January 16.
According to official figures released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BMC, the BJP won 89 seats, polling 11,79,273 votes, which accounts for 21.58 per cent of the total votes cast. Among all winning candidates, the BJP's vote share stands at 45.22 per cent, making it the single largest party in the civic body.
Its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), secured 29 seats with 2,73,326 votes, translating into 5.00 per cent of the total vote share. Together, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance emerged as the largest bloc in the BMC.
On the other side, the Shiv Sena (UBT), contesting in alliance with the MNS, won 65 seats. The UBT-led Sena polled 7,17,736 votes, accounting for 13.13 per cent of the total votes cast. The MNS added 6 seats to the alliance tally, with 74,946 votes and a 1.37 per cent vote share. The Indian National Congress (INC) secured 24 seats, polling 2,42,646 votes, which represents 4.44 per cent of the total vote share.
Among other parties, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 8 seats with 68,072 votes. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) secured 3 seats, the Samajwadi Party won 2 seats, and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 1 seat.