Overview

• The joint Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS panel failed to win a single one of the 21 seats in the BEST Employees’ Credit Society election.
• Shashank Rao’s panel won 14 seats and the rest went to a slate backed by MLC Prasad Lad, with turnout reported at about 83% and roughly 12,000 voters.
• BEST Kamgar Sena president Suhas Samant resigned taking moral responsibility for the defeat, and he said the union’s 14-member committee also stepped down.
• Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam argued the Thackeray cousins’ tie-up will not shift Mumbai politics and cast Eknath Shinde as Balasaheb Thackeray’s political heir, while alleging the UBT–MNS stoked a Marathi versus Hindi divide.
• Aaditya Thackeray acknowledged shortcomings in the campaign and hinted at an internal reshuffle, as commentary cautioned that the small credit-society vote is not a predictor of the BMC outcome.