Thackeray and Pawar family reunions fail poll test

THey ar ii of Maharashtra’s to the highest degree of import political families. Forward of the Maharashtra local body polls, two key unions in the Pawar and Thackeray clans were touted as game changers, bringing together the regional juggernauts in an event that was supposed to shake up state politics.On Friday, however, the union of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray in Mumbai, and Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar in Pune, turned out to be an electoral whimper. The Thackerays lost their erstwhile bastion of Mumbai, with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena alliance winning just 71 of the city’s 227 seats, compared to the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena alliance’s 118 seats (figures as of 11.15 pm on Friday).ALSO READ | Thackeray versus Shinde: ‘Final battle’ for Marathi manoos turns fierce in Marathi-dominated areasIn Pune, where the coming together of the Nationalist Congress Party and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) was the subject of a bitter campaign and sharp comments from the ruling Mahayuti, the Pawar alliance was soundly trounced by the BJP, by winning 96 seats while NCP managed to win 20. NCP’s ally NCP (SP) managed to win three while Shiv Sena drew blank.“These results are disappointing, but we respect the people’s mandate. Ajit Pawar worked hard to win the polls. However, the result is not in our favour and we accept the verdict with humility,” said NCP’s Pune unit working president Pradeep Deshmukh.ALSO READ | Thackeray vs Shinde: ‘Final battle’ for Marathi manoos turns fierce in Marathi-dominated areasIn Mumbai, the Thackeray cousins buried a 20-year-old hatchet last year as they shared a public stage at a joint rally in Mumbai on July 5. The event was framed as a show of “Marathi unity” and was jointly organised by the SS (UBT) and the MNS. At the rally, both leaders made it explicit that their coming together was meant to protect Marathi political influence in Mumbai, with the BMC elections as the central focus.Udddhav Thackeray had then said that Maharashtra belonged to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and every proud Marathi. “We must protect our language and identity at all costs,” he said and added that they had come together to stay together,” he had said on July 5.Raj Thackeray, however, didn’t say anything on the alliance on July 5, but spoke on Marathi language and how they had come together to fight government resolution on the imposition of Hindi from Standard one in schoolsBut the results on Friday showed the large crowds at the rallies had not translated into votes as the union appeared to have failed to click beyond the immediate Marathi strongholds in the city. The SS (UBT) won 65 seats after fighting 163. The MNS won six seats after fighting 52. In contrast, the BJP won 89 seats, including in the Opposition’s erstwhile bastions. Experts said big effort from BJP and Sena let the cousins down, leading to the Thackerays losing control of their once-formidable bastion after 25 years.In Pune, a long-rumoured coming together of both factions of the NCP became a reality in PMC and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. After extended local talks and negotiations through late December 2025 and early January 2026, the factions agreed to present a united front for the Pune civic body polls.ALSO READ | Maharashtra civic polls: Thackeray flags erasable electoral ink; probe orderedOn January 10, they jointly released a manifesto for the Pune Municipal Corporation election, outlining common pledges on civic issues such as free Metro train, and bus service. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Member of Parliament Supriya Sule appeared together while releasing the manifesto even as later was largely absent in the campaign.Ajit Pawar even fended off some attacks from BJP members for breaking the Mahayuti alliance and fighting with the opposition NCP (SP).But the alliance failed to deliver. The NCP fought 140 seats and won 20 and the NCP (SP) three out of 36 seats it contested. In comparison, the BJP won 96 out of 165, keeping its control over Pune for the second term.“During the campaign, we were focused on development and the work we carried out. NCP attacked us but people did not like it,” said BJP leader Murlidhar Mohol.