Down-and-out Uddhav Thackeray wants his troops to go back to roots, strengthen Hindutva cause and shakha network

The party’s headquarters, Shiv Sena Bhavan, at Dadar. File pic/Ashish Raje

After the major setback in the state Assembly election, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has asked the party's former corporators to strengthen shakhas and take the Hindutva agenda to every household. Thackeray held a meeting with ex-corporators of Mumbai at his residence, Matoshree, where he also sought an audit of the voting pattern in the Assembly poll.

During the meeting with former corporators of Mumbai, he told us to focus on ground-level work… to meet people and solve their problems," said a former corporator who was present at the meeting.

In the Assembly election, Sena UBT contested 21 seats in Mumbai of which it secured 10. Meanwhile, the BJP won in 15 Assembly constituencies. As for UBT's performance across the state, the party secured only 20 seats. Thackeray has now started preparations for the upcoming civic polls.

Uddhav Thackeray has asked for the Sena UBT network to be fortified at the shakha level. File pic

According to a former corporator, Thackeray has asked for the party network to be fortified at the shakha level. "He told us to hold regular meetings with BMC officials about local issues to get these problems resolved," the former corporator said.

Regarding the Hindutva agenda, Uddhav Thackeray allegedly told the corporators: "Opponents have spread a fake narrative that we are going away from the Hindutva. Convey our agenda of Hindutva to the people". The source claimed that most former corporators are in favour of contesting the civic elections without an alliance.

At the meeting, Thackeray also asked the former corporators to conduct a booth-wise audit of the voting pattern during the Assembly election. Explaining this, a former corporator told mid-day, "We will find out reasons why people did not vote for the party at the booths where we got fewer votes than in the Lok Sabha election. It will help us understand voting patterns and we can work accordingly to improve our voting percentage in the civic polls."

Former mayor and Shiv Sena UBT spokesperson, Kishori Pedenker confirmed that the party chief asked to strengthen the network of Sena shakhas and also conduct a booth-wise voting pattern audit.

For the audit, Thackeray has appointed 18 observers. Each observer will take responsibility for two constituencies of the city and hold meetings with booth-level party workers.

mid-day reported on November 25 that the voting percentage of the MVA reduced in Mumbai compared to the Lok Sabha election. In the Lok Sabha election, the voting percentage for the MVA stood at 45 per cent, while in the Assembly elections, it dropped to 39 per cent in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Mahayuti managed to get 49 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

In the 2017 civic elections, the undivided Shiv Sena won 84 seats while BJP won 82 seats. The term of the BMC corporators ended on March 9, 2022. The election is delayed due to the case of OBC reservation and number of wards to be reserved is pending in the Supreme Court. The next hearing is due in the last week of January 2025.