Thackeray cousins’ debut alliance collapses in BEST credit society polls, BJP-backed panel sweeps
Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) faced a major setback on Wednesday when their first-ever poll alliance failed miserably in the BEST employees’ credit society election.
The joint panel not only lost control of the cooperative body but failed to secure even a single seat. The election to the 21-member society took place on August 18, according to a Hindustan Times report.
BJP-backed panel dominates
The panel floated by Shashank Rao’s BEST Workers Union emerged as the clear winner, bagging 14 seats.
The BJP-supported Sahakar panel won six, while the SC/ST Employees Union secured one. Rao, who joined the BJP in 2024, credited the victory to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai guardian minister Ashish Shelar.
Credit given to BJP leaders
“Issues such as the payment of Covid allowance to BEST employees and the salary of contract employees had been hanging fire for long,” Rao said. “When we reached out to Shelar and Fadnavis, they took a quick decision to help BEST employees. This society was under our union from 2006 to 2016 and now BEST employees have again shown faith in us.”
Accusations of foul play
The Sena (UBT) and MNS had jointly fielded a panel under the BEST Kamgar Sena banner in a bid to retain control after two successive terms. However, allegations soon surfaced against the BJP-led side.
Days before polling, the Mahayuti government’s cooperation department and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) issued notices to society office-bearers over alleged irregularities.
On voting day, tensions flared between Sena (UBT) leader Suhas Samant, who headed the panel, and BJP MLC Prasad Lad. Both Samant and MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande alleged that BJP-backed candidates distributed money to voters.
The loss was a blow to the Thackeray cousins, as the poll was viewed as a litmus test for their alliance.
Taking a dig at the Thackeray coalition, BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “The sum total of two zeros is also zero.”
Prasad Lad added that the result showed the so-called Thackeray brand was “nothing but a big zero.”
Samant alleged that despite having 12,000 of the 15,000 voters in their union, Sena (UBT) lost because “the BJP-led panel used money power to lure them.” He added: “We thought people would not vote for them despite the distribution of money, but money power turned more powerful and we lost. The notice by government agencies also created confusion in the minds of voters.”
MNS distances from BMC link
MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said the results should not be seen as a precursor to the BMC elections.
“I congratulate Shashank Rao and all the candidates who won. But no one should connect these results with the BMC elections, as the two elections have different scales and Marathi people will vote in different ways,” he noted.
Fadnavis: BJP didn’t politicise poll
CM Fadnavis dismissed allegations of political interference, saying, “Both Shashank Rao and Prasad Lad are from our party, but we kept politics away from these elections.
However, the Sena (UBT) and MNS didn’t, publicising them as the elections of Brand Thackeray and the reunion of the Thackeray cousins.
The results show that people did not like it, and they were thus rejected.”
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