By Admin 
The massive victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena alliance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections is considered certain. Media reports quoting exit polls from various polling agencies have said that the united Thackeray brothers do not seem to be getting much success in this election despite facing tough challenges. At least two exit polls have predicted a clear and decisive mandate for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.
Who did the North Indians living in Maharashtra vote for?
According to these estimates, the Thackeray brothers are trailing by a huge margin, while the Congress-led alliance seems to be heading towards a weak performance once again. According to exit polls, the Mahayuti alliance led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has emerged as the first choice of migrant voters from North and South India. Apart from this, this alliance is also expected to get a large share of Maratha votes.
Choice of Marathi and Muslim voters
At the same time, Thackeray seems to have failed to completely unite the cousin Marathi and Muslim votes. These sections do not seem to have complete trust in the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) alliance. Two leading poll agencies, Axis My India and JVC, have predicted a landslide victory for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in this high-profile BMC contest.
BJP alliance’s victory in JVC exit poll
According to JVC, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is likely to win 138 wards, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) is likely to get 59 wards. The Congress led alliance is said to be far behind and is expected to have only 23 wards in its account. At the same time, Axis My India has predicted victory for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in 131 to 151 wards, while the Shiv Sena (UBT)-led alliance is likely to get 58 to 68 seats.
According to another agency ‘The Sakal Poll’, the contest in BMC elections may be tough between BJP-Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance. However, in this also the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has been shown to have a slight lead. According to this agency, BJP-Shiv Sena alliance can win 119 wards, while Shiv Sena (UBT) can get 75 wards. Congress seats are expected to be less than 20.
Thackeray brothers come together after 20 years
Thackeray cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray came together for the BMC elections after nearly 20 years of political separation. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS had forgotten their old differences to deal with the challenge of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. In this election, Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded candidates in about 160 wards, while MNS fielded candidates in about 53 seats.
It is noteworthy that BMC is the richest municipal corporation in the country. Its elections were held on Thursday along with 28 other municipalities of Maharashtra. Voting was held from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm for 227 wards of BMC. Counting of votes will be done on Friday.