Mumbai

In the aftermath of the Mahayuti’s strong showing in the Maharashtra municipal body elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday launched a sharp attack on Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, accusing him and his faction of pursuing power without ideology or principles.

In an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana, the UBT-led Sena referred to Shinde’s party as “Shah Sena” and alleged that elections lose their meaning when politics is driven by opportunism rather than ideology. The editorial claimed that misuse of power, money and constitutional institutions could artificially create electoral waves.

The party alleged large-scale irregularities during vote counting, which reportedly continued late into Friday night, even as the BJP began celebrating before the final results were officially declared. Terming the situation a “warning for Maharashtra and the Marathi people,” Saamana claimed that chaos prevailed during the declaration of results in several municipal bodies, including Mumbai.

The editorial further accused the ruling alliance of benefiting from corruption, misuse of money power, alleged EVM manipulation, bogus voting and violations of the Model Code of Conduct. It also questioned the role of election authorities, alleging delays in releasing official voter turnout data and claiming that exit polls favouring the BJP were aired while polling was still underway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also targeted, with the newspaper alleging that neither justice nor free and fair elections were ensured during his “Amrit Kaal”. It further claimed that election officials were seen assisting the ruling party at polling booths and allegedly using a “BJP app” to locate voters’ names.

According to official figures released by the Election Commission of India and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 89 seats with over 11.79 lakh votes. Its ally, the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, secured 29 seats. Together, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance emerged as the largest bloc in the civic body.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), contesting with the MNS, won 65 seats, while the MNS secured six. The Congress won 24 seats, AIMIM eight, NCP three, Samajwadi Party two, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) one seat.

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The election recorded a total of over 54.64 lakh votes, with 11,677 voters opting for NOTA, reflecting a fragmented yet competitive mandate in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls.