Uddhav Thackeray Hits Back at BJP After BMC Setback, Says Sena Is an ‘Idea’ That Cannot Be Erased

Days after the Shiv Sena (UBT) witnessed a loss in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was mistaken if it believed it could politically wipe out his outfit, insisting that the Sena was “not just a party, but an idea.”

Addressing party workers at a function marking the birth centenary of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Uddhav alleged that deliberate attempts were being made to erase the Thackeray legacy from Maharashtra’s political landscape, but vowed that such efforts would fail.

“If Shiv Sena had not existed, the BJP would never have entered the BMC or even Mantralaya,” the former Maharashtra chief minister said, underlining the Sena’s historical role in building the BJP’s political presence in the state.

His remarks came in the backdrop of the January 15 BMC elections, where the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats in the 227-member civic body. Along with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which won 29 seats, the BJP-led Mahayuti ended the Thackeray family’s decades-long dominance over India’s richest municipal corporation.

Despite the defeat, Uddhav maintained that the opposition had put up a strong resistance. The Shiv Sena (UBT)  won 65 seats, while its ally Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Raj Thackeray, secured six. Together, the combined, he said, performed better than many had anticipated.

Alleging large-scale use of money power, Uddhav claimed that the civic polls in Mumbai marked an unprecedented level of financial influence. He also flagged issues such as flawed electoral rolls and alleged that the outcome could have been different had his party not identified dual voters.

“They want to swallow Mumbai,” he said, adding that the opposition would continue to remain a strong force within the BMC despite the numerical setback.

Calling for a political reset, Uddhav said the Shiv Sena was founded not merely to gain power but to fight for the rights of the Marathi manoos. He also accused the ruling dispensation of attempting to impose a non-Marathi cultural narrative on the state, citing the now-withdrawn decision to introduce compulsory Hindi from Class 1 as part of a broader design.

Warning that the iconic slogan “Jai Maharashtra” was under threat, he urged party workers and citizens alike to actively use it as a greeting to reaffirm regional identity.

Earlier, addressing the same gathering, MNS chief Raj Thackeray likened Maharashtra’s current political environment to a “slave market” and described recent civic body elections, including those in Kalyan-Dombivli, as an “auction.” He credited Bal Thackeray with demonstrating that Hindus could emerge as a consolidated political force, something he said even the BJP had once considered impossible.

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