Uddhav Thackeray Stunned By Maharashtra Election Result: 'Cannot Believe...'

Uddhav Thackeray, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, who has just suffered the most humiliating defeat of his political career, appeared visibly stunned following the dramatic reversal.

Speaking to reporters this evening after the opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), faced a result starkly different from the Lok Sabha elections just four months ago, he questioned the sudden and drastic shift.

Photo Credit: PTI

"Cannot believe Maharashtra, which listened to me as head of family during COVID, will behave with me this way... How could they (the ruling alliance) win so many seats in just a matter of four months? Where did they light candles for such a result?" said the 64-year-old.

Claiming that MVA rallies had larger crowds than those of the ruling alliance, he said, "People listened to us, not to Modi and Amit Shah. The people said they don't need to listen to them. Did they decide to vote without listening to them?" Adding a sarcastic remark, he said, "How can an empty chair turn into votes?"

Thackeray dismissed the main narrative promoted by the victorious alliance, which had positioned the election as a test of "Who is the real Shiv Sena."

He said, "For the last many years, we have not received a decision on the party name and election symbol," firmly deflecting the issue to the courts, where the matter remains unresolved.

Eknath Shinde's rebel faction, which framed the electoral battle as an ideological contest, quickly declared the outcome as vindication of their claim to being the "real Shiv Sena."

The BJP and its allies' triumph follows their surprising success in Haryana, defying predictions of anti-incumbency against the Nayab Singh Saini government and expectations of a Congress victory.

Thackeray, however, offered his own interpretation of the situation.

"A few years ago, (BJP chief) JP Nadda had said there will only be one party. It seems that they are moving in the same direction - one party, one nation," he said. "I would tell people not to lose hope," he added.

The Sena (UBT) leader refrained from blaming Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), a common point of contention in Indian elections. "Some people are saying that EVM is behind this victory. I say if people have accepted it, then I have no problem," he remarked.

Thackeray's Sena (UBT) managed to win only 20 of the 89 seats it contested, falling far short of the Eknath Shinde faction, which secured 57 of 80.

The Mahayuti - the ruling alliance comprising Shinde's Sena, Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the BJP - led in 236 of Maharashtra's 288 seats.

The MVA's significant losses come just six months after its impressive performance in the Lok Sabha elections, which many believed reflected voter disapproval of the political turbulence of the last two years.

This included the split in the Shiv Sena, the collapse of Thackeray's government, and the subsequent division within the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.