Palghar, Maharashtra: The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), led by former MLA Hitendra Thakur, retained its dominance in the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) by emerging as the single largest party in the civic elections, winning 71 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed as the principal challenger with 43 seats, while the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) managed to secure just one seat.
According to the final tally, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction), Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi failed to win any seats. Other smaller parties and independents, including the Samajwadi Party, AIMIM, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), also failed to register victories in the corporation.
Party-wise results – Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation:
Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA): 71
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): 43
Shiv Sena (Shinde): 1
Shiv Sena (UBT): 0
Congress: 0
NCP (Sharad Pawar faction): 0
NCP (Ajit Pawar faction): 0
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi: 0
Others (SP, AIMIM, AAP, BSP): 0
Vasai-Virar, which has 29 wards, recorded one of the highest voter turnouts in the state at 57.12 per cent on Thursday.
Despite the BVA’s overall numerical strength, the election delivered a setback to several senior party leaders in closely contested wards. Pankaj Thakur, cousin of Hitendra Thakur and a former MLA, was defeated by BJP’s Mehul Shah. Former corporator Hardik Raut lost to BJP candidate Gaurav Raut, while Kiran Thakur was defeated by Ravi Purohit of the BJP. Former mayor Rupesh Jadhav also faced defeat at the hands of BJP’s Vishal Jadhav in Ward No. 21.
In another politically significant contest, former corporator Dhananjay Gawade, was defeated by BJP’s Jayprakash Singh.
In Ward No. 18, BJP’s Ganesh Patil defeated former corporator Milind Gharat. Ward No. 18 emerged as a major setback for the BVA, with several prominent party leaders suffering defeats. Former corporators and chairpersons Sarita Dubey, Gharat, Amita Kailash Patil, and Ram Vilas Gupta lost their contests, marking a significant reversal for the party in a ward where it had traditionally held sway.
However, the BVA registered some key victories against the BJP, including former chairperson Ajiv Patil’s win over BJP’s Mahesh Patil.
The last VVMC election was held in 2015, when the BVA had emerged as the single largest party with 106 of the 115 seats. Although the party’s tally has declined significantly this time, it has once again managed to outpace national and state-level parties.
Hitendra Thakur continues to be among the most influential political figures along Maharashtra’s coastal belt. With deep-rooted grassroots networks and a strong emphasis on local issues, he has steadily built the BVA into a formidable force in municipal politics, particularly within the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation.
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