Mumbai refined Identity Politics .... It has not turned away all that !! ::: Big Picture --- BMC Verdict -- Thackeray Parochialism Faces Voter Rejection

 BMC verdict signals Mumbai’s return to Hindu nationalism blended with development—the political grammar of Modi 

Mumbai has delivered a verdict that goes far beyond municipal arithmetic. The rejection of the Thackeray cousins—Uddhav and Raj—is not merely an electoral setback; it marks the collapse of Marathi-manus parochialism and the consolidation of what may be called “genuine Hindutva with development.”

Maharashtra’s historical proximity to Gujarat—geographical, commercial, and ideological—is often underestimated. Long before the BJP became a national force, western India witnessed the early churn of Hindu revivalism. Gujarat’s industrial ecosystem, its encounter with Left trade unionism, and its social response to perceived cultural erosion made it fertile ground for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s organisational expansion under Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

Over decades, the RSS and later the BJP patiently worked to reshape social life around Hindu nationalism—not as elite conservatism, once associated with the Hindu Mahasabha, but as a broad-based civilisational identity. That long journey appears to have reached a decisive urban milestone in Mumbai.  

For Uddhav Thackeray, the BMC elections were existential. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation—Asia’s richest civic body—had been Shiv Sena’s fortress for over 25 years. His 2019 decision to sever ties with the BJP and ally with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP was a gamble. This election was the final reckoning.

Mumbai’s verdict suggests that voters punished Uddhav not just for governance fatigue but for ideological betrayal. Aligning with parties perceived as “anti-Hindu” cut against the Sena’s foundational ethos—and against Bal Thackeray’s lifelong political instincts.

Equally damaging was Raj Thackeray’s strident Marathi exclusivism. His politics of intimidation—beating up migrants for not speaking Marathi—alienated vast non-Marathi populations that form Mumbai’s economic backbone. The city appears to have issued a moral correction to that phase of fear-driven identity politics.

As Sanjay Nirupam aptly noted, Mumbaikars have set a clear agenda: development, development, and only development. That agenda now travels comfortably with Hindu nationalism—no longer shrill, but managerial and aspirational.

The numbers confirm the shift. The BJP-led Mahayuti swept the BMC with 118 seats; the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 90 seats, while the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) followed with 28. The once-dominant Shiv Sena (UBT) was reduced to political irrelevance in its own backyard.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the mandate as an endorsement of welfare and governance. More accurately, it is an endorsement of post-parochial Hindutva—a politics that rejects linguistic intimidation while embracing cultural confidence and urban development.

Mumbai has not turned away from identity politics. It has refined it. 

(courtesy - The Raisina Hills) 

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