The Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) alliance faced a big defeat in the elections of the BEST Employees Cooperative Credit Society Ltd. Though the two parties fought together, they failed to secure even a single seat among the 21 seats they had contested.
The counting of votes began on Monday, 18th August, and went on through Tuesday (19th August) night. In the end, the rival panel led by Shashank Rao, who is linked to the BJP, came out on top, winning 14 of the seats.
The Sena (UBT) and MNS had also constituted a joint committee by the name of Utkarsh. They had put up a total of 21 candidates, 18 from UBT, two from MNS, and one from the Association of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who were also in the alliance.
MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande had previously accused opponents of employing funds to lure voters in the election. Meanwhile, UBT leaders indicated that the election mattered to them in that it provided the two parties with an opportunity to demonstrate to people in Maharashtra that they were collaborating. They also perceived it as a test of what they could achieve when they worked together.
The BJP, though, didn’t let the opportunity slip to take a swipe at the Sena (UBT) and MNS. Describing the defeat as a outright rejection of the “Thackeray brand,” BJP leaders asserted that the employees had opted for a panel that stood really with workers. Shashank Rao stated that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar have always stood for BEST workers, which proved beneficial for their side.
BJP MLC Prasad Lad had also introduced the Sahakar Samruddhi panel for the co-op polls, which went on to win. Within minutes of the results coming out, Rao wrote on X, “The Thackeray brand proved to be zero… we have shown them their position.”
