Even as suspense over Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) mayor continues, high drama is unfolding in the neighbouring Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC). In a reminder of the Guwahati
saga which led to the eventual split of the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde, Uddhav Thackeray’s 11 corporators from the region have gone “unreachable”.
The number game
In the KDMC elections, Shinde Sena secured 53 of the total 122 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 50. The magic number needed to form the government is 62.
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Even though Shinde Sena and BJP are in an alliance in the state, the two are said to be vying to wrest Kalyan-Dombivli, a bastion of Eknath Shinde, alone and install their mayor.
This makes Uddhav Thackeray’s 11 corporators and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s five crucial.
If the Shinde group or the BJP wants to get its mayor, it will need 16 corporators from the Thackerays.
UddhavSaheb Thackeray #LIVE | पत्रकार परिषद | शिवसेना भवन, दादर, मुंबई https://t.co/13YbfkUMIR
— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) January 17, 2026
Unreachable
All 11 of Thackeray’s and MNS’s 5 corporators are currently unreachable. It is reported that all have been kept at unknown locations. As a precautionary measure to prevent a split in the party, the Thackeray faction and the MNS have shifted their corporators to two different undisclosed locations.
Shinde Sena vs BJP?
News18 Marathi reported that the Shiv Sena Shinde faction is trying to form the government by persuading six to seven newly appointed corporators, who were not nominated by his party but managed to win from UBT and MNS, to join hands.
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The BJP, too, is aiming for an alliance with the MNS or UBT. According to News18 Marathi, there is a strong possibility of an alliance between Shinde’s Sena and MNS.
What had happened in Guwahati in 2022?
In mid-2022, Eknath Shinde led a rebellion within the undivided Shiv Sena then led by Uddhav Thackeray, when a large group of Sena MLAs sided with him. This crisis came after internal disagreement over the direction of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which included Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP at the time.
Shinde took many MLAs with him and moved them out of Maharashtra — first to a hotel in Surat, and later to Guwahati in Assam.
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In Guwahati, this group stayed together to avoid poaching by opposition parties and secure their numbers. From there, Shinde claimed support of about 40 Shiv Sena MLAs and sought to keep their group intact.
This move eventually caused the collapse of the Thackeray-led government and allowed Shinde to form a new government with the support of the BJP.
