In the Mumbai Municipal Corporation election, which the state was keenly watching, the BJP has performed impressively and established its power as the largest party. BJP not only won the most seats but also surpassed all parties in terms of strike rate. In Mumbai, BJP contested 135 seats and won a remarkable 89 of them. This means BJP's success strike rate was as high as 66 percent.
This result has highlighted the BJP's strength in Mumbai's politics. The BJP is close to the number required to establish power in the municipal corporation, and it is believed that the path to establishing power through the grand alliance has been cleared. Political analysts believe that this performance by the BJP is a result of organizational strength, effective campaigning, and candidate selection.
Under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena contested the highest number of seats, 160. However, they had to be content with only 65 seats. Uddhav Sena's victory strike rate was 40.62 percent. This shows that compared to the BJP, Uddhav Sena's performance was limited. The results clearly indicate that the Shiv Sena, which once dominated Mumbai, has weakened its grip this time.
The Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, the second major component of the grand alliance, contested 90 seats in alliance with the BJP. They succeeded in winning 29 of those seats. The Shinde faction's strike rate was 32.22 percent. This performance is considered moderate, and the challenge of strengthening the organization lies ahead for the Shinde faction.
The Congress, in alliance with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, contested 151 seats. However, Congress managed to win only 24 seats. Their victory rate was 15.89 percent. The declining performance of Congress in metropolitan areas like Mumbai is a matter of concern for the party.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) formed an alliance with Uddhav Sena and MNS to contest 11 seats. However, they managed to win only one seat. Their strike rate remained as low as 0.90 percent. Under the leadership of Raj Thackeray, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena allied with Uddhav Sena to contest 53 seats, winning only six of them. MNS's strike rate is 11 percent.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) contested 37 seats independently and won in three places. Their victory rate remained at 9 percent. Overall, it is clear that the BJP has established political dominance by performing most effectively in the Mumbai municipal elections.