Who is the leader of BMC? Thackeray Brothers vs BJP-Shinde, BJP’s dominance in these four exit polls!

The biggest battle of Maharashtra politics, Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) electionshas now reached its turning point. The exit poll, which came as soon as the voting was over, has created a stir in the political circles. Almost all major surveys are indicating that this time the grand alliance of BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena seems to be taking a huge lead over the power of BMC. Although this is an exit poll, its result will come on January 16.

In this high-voltage election held after almost seven years, the changed alliance, the broken old political axis and the battle of ‘Marathi Manus’ versus Vikas made the contest very interesting. But exit poll data shows that even the political union of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray after 20 years could not influence the voters much.

Mahayuti’s big lead in exit polls

According to most exit polls, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) alliance i.e. Mahayuti can get a clear majority in the 227-member BMC.

• Axis My India has predicted that Mahayuti will get 131 to 151 seats.
• According to JVC Exit Poll, Mahayuti can get 138 seats.
• Sakal Poll has predicted the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance to get 119 seats.
• DV Research has estimated Mahayuti to get 107 to 122 seats.

It is clear from these figures that the change of power in Asia’s richest municipal body is considered almost certain.

Thackeray brothers’ bet has faded?

The political unity of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray after 20 years was being considered a big masterstroke before the elections. But exit polls dashed this hope.

• Axis My India has given 58-68 seats to Shiv Sena (UBT)+ alliance.
• According to JVC, this figure may be reduced to 59 seats.

Marathi identity and ‘Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy’ were kept at the center of the election campaign, but it seems that this strategy did not appeal much to the voters of Mumbai.

Position of Congress and other parties

According to exit polls, this time also Congress seems to be confined to a limited area.

• JVC has predicted that Congress will get 23 seats.
• According to Axis My India, Congress+ may get 12-16 seats.
• Other parties may get 6 to 12 seats.

Ajit Pawar’s NCP fought separately in this election, but its influence seems to be limited.

BJP also ahead in vote share

Vote share figures also show the strength of Mahayuti. According to DV Research, Mahayuti may get around 41% votes. The alliance of Thackeray brothers is likely to get 33% votes. Congress and VBA together got about 13% votes. According to Axis My India, young voters and women were seen in large numbers in favor of BJP.

Equation changed compared to 2017

In the 2017 BMC elections, undivided Shiv Sena became the largest party with 84 seats, while BJP got 82 seats. At that time, vote share of Shiv Sena was 28.29% and that of BJP was 27.32%. But this time exit polls are showing that the rise of Eknath Shinde faction has weakened the traditional hold of the Thackeray family.

Voting, candidates and further schedule

Voting for 227 seats of BMC started at 7:30 am and continued till 5:30 pm. In which a total of 1,729 candidates were in the fray. There are more than 1.03 crore voters in Mumbai. Counting of votes will start from 10 am on Friday, January 16 and the results are expected on the same day. Responding to the exit poll, BJP spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said that the Thackeray family no longer has the connection with Marathi society that it used to have. Exit poll figures are also pointing in the same direction.