Real Shiv Sena has ruled BMC for 30 yrs, Congress irrelevant in Mumbai: Sena UBT

Ahead of the highstakes BMC elections 2026 scheduled for next month Shiv Sena UBT leader Anand Dubey on Sunday exuded confidence saying that the real Shiv Sena has consistently won the BMC elections and maintained its hold on the city for the past 30 years reported ANIHe also took a dig at Congress dismissing its relevance in Mumbai politicsIn a selfmade video UBT leader Anand Dubey said Theres no need to take the Congress party seriously in Mumbai For the past 30 years Congress has consistently lost the BMC elections so what miracle will they perform in 2026 The Congress party in Mumbai is like a tourist Come roam around put up hoardings campaign lose the election and then go home reported ANIThis came after the Congress party announced it would contest the upcoming BMC elections 2026 aloneCongress leader Sachin Sawant said We have already clarified our position and the Congress party wants to move forward on its own in the elections and there is an ideological basis behind this This was not a hasty decision it was the unanimous opinion of the entire party We are going to fight against any party that creates conflict in the name of religion caste region or language We want the election to be fought on the issue of development not conflict reported ANIThe Shiv Sena UBT leader further stated Mumbais relationship has always been with the Shiv Sena For the past 30 years the real Shiv Sena has consistently won the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections and maintained its hold on the city This time too on January 16 2026 we will winThe Maha Vikas Aghadi which includes Raj Thackerays party Sharad Pawars party our party and other allies are all fighting the election together and winning reported ANIUndivided Shiv Sena was dominant political force in BMCFor several decades the undivided Shiv Sena had been a dominant political force in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC often governing the civic body in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party BJPIn the last BMC elections held in 2017 the undivided Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party followed by the BJP However the upcoming BMC election will be the first since the split of the Shiv Sena in 2022Meanwhile the ruling has registered a decisive victory in the recently held local body elections Elections on 286 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats were held in two phases as some councils went to polls on December 2 while the remaining cast their votes on December 20Multiple key local bodies including Baramati Ambernath went to the polls Two councils saw candidates being elected unopposed too in Angar in Solapur and Dondaicha in DhuleThe local body elections also signal a runup to the much awaited political contest set to happen in January 15 when multiple Municipal Corporations including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Pune Municipal Corporations and multiple other local body polls will be held The voting for BMC and other bodies is set to happen on January 15 with counting to happen on January 16With inputs from ANI