Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.

MUMBAI: Victorious in 20 of the 94 assembly constituencies it contested, the Shiv Sena (UBT) was left with a scorecard far worse than the undivided Shiv Sena’s performance in Uddhav Thackerays leadership in previous elections, both in terms of the number of mandates won and the strike frequency.
“It seems like a tsunami has hit rather than a wave. The question is whether the public agrees with this or not,” Uddhav Thackeray said, describing the results as unprecedented and unexpected.
Although it only won a little more than a third of the number of seats as CM Eknath Shindes Shiv Sena won, a small consolation was that the Shiv Sena (UBT) went into the election with 15 MLAs and increased its tally by five, making it the single largest party in the MVA in the assembly. Winning the prestige seats of Mahim, Worli and Bandra East also gave the party reason to celebrate.
Aaditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and his cousin, Varun Sardesai, gave the party victories in Worli and Bandra East respectively.
After winning nine seats in the Lok Sabha elections under its new symbol ‘mashaal’ (flaming torch), the crushing defeat was now more than a setback for Uddhav Thackeray.
Now saving his party ahead of the BMC elections will be a big task for Uddhav Thackeray. If the party fails to impress in the BMC elections, which may be held early next year, it could prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the party.
Apart from the city, the party also got a jolt in its other bastion, Konkan, with Bhaskar Jadhav as its lone winning MLA in the region.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) contested 22 seats and won only 10 in the city, compared to the 14 it got in the 2019 assembly elections. It also lost the Andheri East seat it won in a 2022 by-election.
The attempt by Shiv Sena (UBT) to make up for the Marathi votes it lost to CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, MNS and BJP with minority votes worked only to some extent, giving it gains in only a few select seats. The party faced a wipeout in Shinde’s stronghold of Thane and also the rest of the Mumbai metropolitan region, once a bastion of the undivided Shiv Sena.
Political observers said the Shiv Sena’s (UBT) newly elected MLAs and even its party cadres may jump ship, leaving Uddhav Thackeray with only a handful of loyalists.
The results are proof that Shinde’s Shiv Sena was the real Shiv Sena in the minds of voters and that the CM still has the support of not just MLAs and MPs but also loyal voters from the days of the undivided Shiv Sena.
Analysts said it would be an almost impossible task for the Shiv Sena (UBT) to bounce back from here, given the Mahayutis’ brute majority in the state.

Among the 40 undivided Shiv Sena MPs who sided with Shinde in 2022, only a handful lost in this election, an indication that a sympathy wave did not exist. Uddhav Thackeray’s tale of traitors, betrayals and backstabbing has not clicked with voters, who chose ‘bow and arrow’ over ‘mashaal’.
Uddhav Thackeray may now have to take a back seat in the MVA as well. In the scenario of MVA itself disintegrating, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will be further weakened without any support from the Congress. Uddhav will struggle to hold his party together, and with no SC order in his favor on the disqualification of MLAs and the party name and symbol, it will be rough sailing for Uddhav and his Sena (UBT).