How the Sena and the BJP battled it out across Mumbai | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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How the Sena and the BJP battled it out across Mumbai

Hindustan Times | ByManasi Phadke, Chetna Yerunkar, Mumbai
Feb 24, 2017 07:27 AM IST

After weeks of bitter battle, it was close finish between allies-turned-rivals Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — a difference of just two seats — when votes were counted on Thursday.

After weeks of bitter battle, it was close finish between allies-turned-rivals Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — a difference of just two seats — when votes were counted on Thursday.

The richest candidate and BJP leader Parag Shah being greeted by his supporters at Ghatkopar on Thursday.(Arijit Sen/HT PHOTO)
The richest candidate and BJP leader Parag Shah being greeted by his supporters at Ghatkopar on Thursday.(Arijit Sen/HT PHOTO)

The Sena derived most of its strength from the Island city, home to the Marathi heartland. The BJP rode a victory wave in the western suburbs.

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The Sena ended with a final tally of 84 seats in the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),, winning in 26 of the 56 wards, or 46%, of the total electoral wards in the island city.

The BJP was a close second, with 82 seats overall. The party dominated the western suburbs, closing in on 49 of the 102 seats, or 48% of all wards in the western suburbs.

The island city comprises the elite south Mumbai areas of Cuffe Parade, Malabar Hill, Colaba, Churchgate, Fort, Marathi-dominated areas such as Girgaum, Dadar, Mahim, Parel, Lalbaug, Wadala, Sewri, slum areas such as Dongri and Byculla, and some other cosmopolitan pockets such as Sion and Matunga.

Most of the central Mumbai’s Marathi nucleus, a significant part of which was charmed by the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in 2012, rallied with the Shiv Sena this time. Of the 25 electoral wards in F South, G South and G North wards, encompassing areas such as Dadar, Mahim, Lalbaug, Sewri, Parel and Worli, the Shiv Sena won 18.

Overall across the island city, the BJP won 14 of the 56 seats, as compared to the Sena’s 26.

The Shiv Sena’s success in the eastern and the western suburbs was also strong, but tepid in comparison to its strides in the island city. The party won 33 percent of all electoral wards in both the eastern and the western suburbs. The western suburbs, spanning from Bandra to Dahisar, were largely painted saffron by the BJP, which had big victories in Gujarati-speaking and North Indian-dominated areas. Between the R South, R Central and the P North wards, comprising Borivali, Kandivali and Malad, the BJP won 24 of the 41 seats.

The BJP largely gained here at the expense of the Congress, which plummeted from having 13 corporators across the three administrative wards in 2012 to six now.

In comparison to the BJP’s 49, the Sena won 34 seats in the western suburbs.

The verdict in the eastern suburbs was more or less a split between the Sena and the BJP, with both parties put together winning 43 of the 69 seats. The Shiv Sena independently won 23 wards here, mostly on the back of its strength in Marathi-speaking areas such as Bhandup, Vikhroli, and areas in Deonar-Mankhurd, while the BJP won 20, sweeping Mulund, and picking up a few seats in Ghatkopar and Chembur.

Also read: Not just in cities, BJP emerges party no.1 in Maha rural areas

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