The Maharashtra Chief Minister and the leader of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Devendra Fadnavis (called Deva Bhau lovingly by his party cadres) emerged as the biggest and the most popular leader across all political parties in the entire state post the civic elections held on 15 January 2026, the results of which were announced on 16 January 2026. It was indeed a landslide victory for the BJP-led alliance called Mahayuti in Maharashtra.

The results gave the BJP a great lead in the overall tally. Out of the total 29 Municipal Corporations in the state, the Mahayuti won in 24 odd bodies while the BJP is poised to have its own Mayor in 22 Municipal Corporations. The icing on the cake is that the BJP will for the first time in history have an opportunity to have its own Mayor in the most prestigious and the richest civic body in Asia -the BMC (Brahan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation).

The most important political implication of these civic bodies’ elections in Maharashtra is that the BJP has assumed the position of number one party in the state at grassroots level as well. It has consistently reiterated such a position for the fifth time during the last 12 years -thrice in the assembly elections and twice in the Lok Sabha elections. The other important implication is that these results this time have put heavy curtains on the ‘Maratha politics’ led by Pawars and Thackerays in Maharashtra. Their overwhelming and decades-old dynastic and family influence on the socio-political scenario of Maharashtra has been effectively squeezed by the BJP and its allies.

The worst thing that has happened with the opposition is that it has lost its ground in its own bastions and political fortresses. The Congress has been pushed to the sidelines in a way that they would need a herculean effort to gather mass once again in an otherwise citadel for them for the past long seventy years. Maharashtra was always considered a great power centre of Congress that has produced a big line of successful political leaders at the national and the state level. Y. B Chavan, Vasant Dada Patil, S.B. Chavan, Shivraj Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Shinde are some of the prominent past leaders of the Congress in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Udhav Thakerey,........

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