Maharashtra election results: People's verdict for his bloc, Eknath Shinde is the 'real' Sena now

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday established himself, and rather convincingly, as the leader of the real Shiv Sena .

With his party winning 57 seats - one more than the undivided Shiv Sena's 56 in the 2019 assembly elections and a staggering 35 more than Shiv Sena-UBT's Saturday tally - he now has the first claim to not only Sena founder Bal Thackeray's political legacy, but also the grassroots support that was so far believed to be with Uddhav Thackeray .

Shinde Sena's strike rate - number of seats contested divided by the number of wins - made its victory even more remarkable. His party contested only 81 seats and won 57 at a strike rate of 70.4%. In 2019, the undivided Sena had contested 124 seats and won 56, a strike rate of 45.2%. And in 1995, when the undivided Shiv Sena had won 73 seats, its highest ever, the strike rate was 43.2%.

Shinde Sena now stands as the state's number one regional party, second only to the national behemoth, BJP, and miles ahead of Sharad Pawar's NCP. Political observers said having made deep inroads into Mumbai, Shiv Sena-UBT's traditional stronghold, it is just a matter of time before he challenges Uddhav Thackeray for the control of the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). There is a possibility of Shinde poaching Sena-UBT's MLAs, MPs and influential 'shakha pramukhs' in Mumbai.

Shinde's Sena contested 15 seats in Mumbai and won 5. Uddhav's Sena contested 22 and won 10. Almost all of Sena's 40 sitting MLAs won and so did its cabinet ministers, illustrating the meticulous planning that went into selection of candidates. Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde characterised Shinde Sena's victory as the end of Shiv Sena being run as a private limited company. "People have delivered their verdict on who is taking Balasaheb's legacy forward," he said.