The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, or BMC polls, attracted national attention this week because of the municipal body being so rich and the personalities fighting the elections being so flamboyant. The results are out, and the big story is that, for the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party will install its mayor in Asia’s richest municipal corporation. However, what is not being talked about is why all this happened and what this will lead to.

BJP’s measured success in Mumbai

One must make it clear that these polls, pan-Maharashtra, have gone totally in favour of the BJP, but in Mumbai the fight has been tough for the saffron party. In other words, what has happened in Mumbai city cannot be called a “clean sweep” by the BJP, and the party perhaps did not expect that kind of sweep but just focused on getting a clear majority and establishing its mayor and control on the standing committee of the BMC. The party has clearly succeeded in achieving these goals.

It would be interesting to see what worked for the BJP and what went wrong for the Thackeray cousins, whose much-hyped reunion has just about worked to save them from total debacle in the municipal body, which is their last bastion in political terms.

MVA’s........

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