BMC Election Results: Uddhav-Raj's Reunion After 20 Years Falls Flat; What Led To End Of Thackeray Family's Dominance In Mumbai

Mumbai BMC Election Result 2026: The trend of the vote counting in the high-stakes BMC elections showed that the union of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supremo Raj Thackeray, after two decades, did not influence the voters in the financial capital of India. If the trend holds, the Thackeray family's almost three-decade dominance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will end, prompting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to create history in the metropolitan city as the saffron party for the first time may have the mayor post.

Going by the trends, the Mahayuti alliance is poised to cross the majority mark of 114 needed to wrest power in the BMC. The Thackeray cousins, who reunited ahead of Thursday's poll, were behind the ruling alliance in Mumbai, with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-UBT ahead in 60 wards and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) ahead in 9 seats.

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Now, the question is why the Thackeray brothers failed to recreate the 'Thackeray-brand' laden with hardcore 'Marathi Manoos' politics in Mumbai.

Here Are Some Major Factors:

- 'Too Late' Factor: Thackeray brothers created headlines after dramatic reunion, but the timing and intension was questioned by their critics as all these happened just ahead of the elections and after a string of defeats. Uddhav and Raj united after 20 years, but it seemed "too late" and "out of compulsion".

- Local Issues Dominate: According to many analysts, the politics of "Marathi identity" was not as effective this time, as voters gave more importance to local issues and performance.

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- Balasaheb Thackeray Factor: The 'Balasaheb Thackeray' magic is no longer working completely in Mumbai. The BJP-Shinde faction made significant inroads among young voters.

- Loss Of Non-Marathi Votes: The Thackeray brothers' campaign focused on 'Marathi Manoos' and Maratha's identity, but this alienated North Indian voters. In fact, violence by the MNS workers on the Hindi speaking people also made a dent to their electoral prospects.

- Division In Shiv Sena Votes: The BMC for the first time went to the polls, witnessing contests between two factions of Shiv Sena. After the split in Shiv Sena in 2022, the Eknath Shinde faction was technically granted the status of the 'real Shiv Sena'. Shinde's Shiv Sena, in alliance with the BJP, successfully breached the Thackeray faction's traditional vote bank.

- No Unity In Maha Vikas Aghadi: Ahead of the BMC elections, the MVA was almost disbanded, scattering opposition votes in the capital city.