Shiv Sena (UBT) party cadre revelled after the party leaders clinched three seats in Mumbai in Lok Sabha Elections 2024; they were seen bursting crackers
Sena (UBT) candidates Anil Desai, Arvind Sawant and Sanjay Dina Patil won Lok Sabha Elections 2024 from three of the constituencies in the city.
Anil Desai won from Mumbai South Central, Sawant from Mumbai South and Sanjay Dina Patil from Mumbai North East.
The party, however, lost the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat by ust 48 votes, the smallest margin in Maharashtra Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Sena (UBT) had fielded Amol Kirtikar from the seat who received 4,52,596 votes in what was a nail-biting finish after a see-saw battle between the two candidates.
He was contesting against Ravindra Waikar, who had joined Shinde-led Shiv Sena earlier this year, and he bagged 4, 52, 644 votes.
The party suffered defeats in Raigad, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Thane, and Kalyan. Despite these setbacks, the party was expected to gain nine seats by the end of the election day.
Thackeray demonstrated that the Shiv Sena cadre in Mumbai remained loyal to him, though this loyalty was not as evident in the broader Konkan region.
Five years ago, Uddhav Thackeray was seen as a hesitant politician, struggling under the weight of his father Bal Thackeray's legacy.
However, he has since reinvented himself and his party, the Shiv Sena, especially after parting ways with the BJP and aligning with the Congress and NCP.
In June 2022, Thackeray faced a significant challenge when Eknath Shinde led a rebellion and he chose to resign without facing a trust vote.
After losing his position as Chief Minister, as well as the party name and electoral symbol to the Shinde faction, Thackeray leveraged the sympathy wave to bounce back. He soon became the face of the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes the Congress and NCP.
While the opposition's INDIA grouping, which includes Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), performed well in the Lok Sabha elections, Thackeray faces a more significant test in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Thackeray's ability to maintain and expand his influence will be crucial in determining his and his party's future political success.
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