Raj Thackeray

Mumbai, Nov. 1: Raj Thackeray today scored his biggest poll success yet, with his party winning 26 seats and the role of kingmaker in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation in Thane district.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) came second, behind the Shiv Sena which won 31 of the total 107 seats in a fractured verdict.

With the BJP winning nine seats, the ruling Sena-BJP combine has a tally of 40, well short of the 54 needed to reach majority.

The Congress and the NCP each won 15 seats, taking the tally of the Opposition alliance to 30.

Even with Independents and others winning 11 seats, either combine will have to seek the support of the MNS to rule the civic body.

The success of the MNS, which contested the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls for the first time, has not come at the expense of the Shiv Sena which increased its tally from 29 to 31. The BJP was down seven seats, the Congress six seats and the NCP eight seats from their previous tally.

The score of 26 is the highest for the MNS in any election so far and will boost the party’s confidence in the run-up to the Mumbai civic elections in 2012.

Formed in March 2006 after Raj broke away from the Shiv Sena, the MNS made its debut in a small way in the Nashik and Pune civic elections before contesting 11 seats in the April 2009 Lok Sabha elections. In the Assembly elections in October 2009, the party won 13 seats, five of them in Mumbai, two in Kalyan, three in Nashik, and one each in Kanad, Pune and Thane.

However, it fared badly in the civic elections in Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Ambernath and Badlapur in April this year. Ambernath, a suburb in Thane district, threw up a hung house with the Sena-BJP winning 17 seats, the Congress-NCP 12 seats, Independents 15 and the MNS six. With no party getting a majority in the 50-member house, the MNS opted to back the Sena-BJP combine.

The Shiv Sena is hoping for a repeat in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, in spite of the bitter poll campaign in which Raj directly attacked his uncle and Sena boss Bal Thackeray for the first time.

“Since we have emerged as the single largest party, we will see how to stitch up the arithmetic… We will wait and see what stand the MNS takes,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said.

MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar said: “This is my personal opinion, but unless the Shiv Sena apologises for the personalised attacks on Raj Thackeray, there is no question of going with the Sena. Of course, Raj Thackeray will take the final decision.”