Aaditya Thackeray hails clean sweep in MU senate polls as precursor to Assembly

Yuva Sena won all 10 seats in the graduate constituency elections. Two of its candidates were elected for a third term. All 10 candidates fielded by the ABVP lost in the election. Apart from Yuva Sena and ABVP, another students’ organisation ‘Chhatrabharti’ had also fielded four candidates. Out of 13,406 registered electors, 55 per cent voted in the election.

The Bombay High Court had last week directed that the senate elections be held on September 24 after staying a state government circular postponing them. The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Yuva Sena supporters held victory celebrations at ‘Matoshree’, the residence of the Thackerays.

Crediting the loyal party supporters for the victory, Aaditya Thackeray said, “All other organisations, including the RSS-affiliated ABVP, were completely wiped out in the election. We have started our victory march. It will continue in the Assembly elections also. The state government kept postponing the election out of fear. But the people trust Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.”

The senate is the highest elected decision-making body and watchdog of Mumbai University with representatives of teachers, principals and college managements as well as registered graduates. It is empowered to pass the university's budget.

Terming it a significant victory for the party, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “The BJP and chief minister Eknath Shinde did everything to prevent the MU elections for two years. The dates of election were postponed twice because the government and ABVP feared losing them. Finally, it was held after the high court’s directives. The results show that the youth and women of Maharashtra are standing with us.”

Mr. Raut further claimed that the MU senate victory is also important because the elections were held on ballot paper, which cannot be tampered.