Thackeray Brothers’ Alliance Flops: Zero Wins in Mumbai BEST Polls

Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu): The much-hyped alliance between former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray got off to a disappointing start. Results of the BEST Credit Society elections in Mumbai dashed the hopes of the Thackeray brothers. Contesting jointly under the Utkarsh Panel, both parties fielded candidates for 21 seats — but failed to secure even a single victory.

The elections saw a sweeping win for Shashank Rao’s BEST Workers’ Union panel, which bagged 14 out of 21 seats. The BJP-backed panel also made a strong mark by winning the remaining 7 seats.

Political reactions poured in soon after the results. BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye took a dig at the Thackeray brothers, remarking, “It’s simple mathematics — the sum of two zeroes is always zero.” Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut downplayed the outcome, calling it a “local election” and refusing to comment further.

This poll was seen as significant since it marked the first time Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS buried decades of rivalry to fight together. The alliance had fielded 18 candidates from Shiv Sena (UBT), two from MNS, and one from an affiliated union — but the results turned entirely against them.