Kejriwal Reacts to BMC Election Outcome, Targets BJP's Performance
Arvind Kejriwal, the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party, has strongly criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party following the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election results. Speaking to reporters in Ahmedabad, Kejriwal asserted that the BJP's inability to cross the majority mark clearly demonstrates public opposition to the party.
"Despite facilitating such discrepancies, they could not touch the majority mark," Kejriwal stated. "This clearly shows that the public is against them, but they misuse machinery."
Kejriwal's Gujarat Visit and Governance Critique
During his three-day visit to Gujarat, the AAP leader launched a sharp attack on the BJP's long rule in the state. He alleged that the party has damaged governance over the past three decades.
"For the last 30 years, the BJP has been ruling Gujarat," Kejriwal said. "In these 30 years, the BJP pushed Gujarat into a ditch. There is fear and corruption everywhere. They scare and threaten people who raise their voices against them, against injustice; they are jailed. They do corruption openly. Nobody can raise a voice against their corruption."
Kejriwal expressed confidence in AAP's growing support across Gujarat despite limited resources. He noted that people are looking at his party with great hope.
"In the last 6-7 months, AAP has been conducting rallies across the entire state of Gujarat," he explained. "People are turning up in large numbers. We don't even have money; ours is a poor party. But people are coming to AAP rallies at their own expense. I am here on a 3-day visit. I will speak with volunteers and form a strategy."
BMC Election Results Breakdown
Meanwhile, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance led by the Eknath Shinde faction emerged as the single largest bloc in the BMC elections, though it fell short of securing a majority independently. The Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena alliance also captured a substantial share of seats and votes across Mumbai.
According to official figures released by the State Election Commission and the BMC:
- The BJP won 89 seats with 1,179,273 votes, accounting for 21.58% of total votes cast
- Among all winning candidates, the BJP's vote share reached 45.22%, making it the single largest party in the civic body
- The Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) secured 29 seats with 273,326 votes, translating to a 5% vote share
- Together, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) alliance became the largest bloc in the 227-member civic body
On the opposing side:
- The Shiv Sena (UBT), contesting in alliance with MNS, won 65 seats
- The UBT-led Sena polled 717,736 votes, or 13.13% of total votes
- The MNS secured six seats with 74,946 votes, amounting to a 1.37% vote share
Other Parties' Performance and Voting Patterns
The Indian National Congress captured 24 seats with 242,646 votes, representing 4.44% of the total vote share. Other parties achieved the following results:
- All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen: 8 seats with 68,072 votes
- Nationalist Congress Party: 3 seats
- Samajwadi Party: 2 seats
- NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar): 1 seat
Candidates from recognized political parties collectively polled 2,607,612 votes, accounting for 47.72% of total votes cast. The total number of votes polled stood at 5,464,412, while 11,677 voters opted for NOTA.
During the campaign, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray focused on consolidating votes around Marathi language and identity issues. Meanwhile, the BJP-led alliance highlighted its development work, including the Metro Aqua Line and Coastal Road projects, which helped secure an edge in the civic polls.
