The Lok Sabha elections had set the trend; the Assembly polls brought the results. Contesting Assembly elections for the first time, the MNS won six Mumbai seats, including three in Northeast, as well as Shivdi and Mahim, all known as Sena bastions.

In Mumbai Northeast, the MNS won Bhandup, Vikhroli and Ghatkopar West. It had led the Sena in these three segments in the Lok Sabha elections, too.

In Shivdi and Mahim, the sons-of-the-soil agenda paid dividends for the four-year-old party. Mahim includes mill areas like Dadar, Shivaji Park, Mahim, Lalbaug, Parel and Kalachowkie, where the Sena had created its base in the 1960s. In the Lok Sabha elections, the party had polled more than 1.92 lakh votes from Mahim.

In Bhandup, Shishir Shinde won by 31,815 votes with the Sena finishing third. In Vikhroli and Ghatkopar West, the MNS won by 20,000 and 26,000 votes.

“The Sena-BJP alliance put up wrong candidates in Ghatkopar West and Bhandup. Had the party leadership chosen wisely, the result would have been different,” said a Sena corporator.

In Vile Parle and Dindoshi, the Sena lost to the Congress by less than 1,000 and 5,000 votes, with the MNS having eaten into the Sena’s share. The MNS finished second in six seats. In Byculla, Kalina, Chandivli and Chembur, which the Congress won, the saffron parties finished third, behind the MNS.