KALYAN: The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), long regarded as a stronghold of deputy chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his son Shrikant Shinde, MP from the region, has once again reaffirmed its political alignment with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena–BJP Mahayuti alliance. This election marked the first major civic test in the city after the split in the Shiv Sena, and the results clearly underline the consolidation of power by the ruling alliance.The Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) emerged as the single-largest party by winning 53 seats, while its ally, the BJP, delivered an equally strong performance by securing 50 seats. The BJP’s showing is particularly significant as it represents a marked improvement over the 2017 civic polls, when the party had won 42 seats.
BJP leaders have credited this performance to the efforts of Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan, who is also the MLA from Dombivli and played a key role in ensuring the victory of a maximum number of party corporators. Compared to the previous election, the Shiv Sena repeated its tally of 52, while the BJP gained nine additional seats.The BJP also recorded a higher strike rate, winning 51 of the 57 seats it contested, whereas the Shiv Sena won 52 of the 67 seats it fought. While most BJP candidates were elected comfortably, the Shiv Sena faced resistance in several wards where the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (UBT) managed to make inroads.Shiv Sena (UBT) secured 11 seats, while the MNS won five — a drop from its 2015 performance, when it had won nine seats. Local UBT leaders, speaking off the record, attributed their limited gains to the absence of senior leadership during the campaign. They pointed out that neither Uddhav Thackeray nor Aditya Thackeray visited Kalyan-Dombivli even once, which, according to them, benefited the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
