The recent Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) elections, held on January 15, 2026, with results declared on January 16 and 17, 2026, saw a dominant performance by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Shinde faction of Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party, securing 75 seats in the 131-member Thane civic body. Its alliance partner, the BJP, won 28 seats, comfortably pushing the Mahayuti coalition past the majority mark of 66 required to control the civic body. This outcome largely reaffirms Thane as a stronghold for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. However, a highly significant and symbolic defeat occurred in Ward 13A (also referred to as Ward 13 or Kajuwadi ward 13), where Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde resides. In this ward, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidate, Shahaji Khusphe, defeated the Shinde-led Sena's nominee, former mayor Ashok Vaiti, by a margin of 667 votes. Khusphe polled 12,860 votes against Vaiti's 12,193. While Shinde's Sena won three of the four seats in Ward 13, the loss in the most high-profile contest carried considerable political weight, indicating that the Uddhav Thackeray faction still retains pockets of support even in areas closely identified with Shinde. Despite the strong overall performance in Thane, the Indian Express article suggests the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faced "struggles" in most other major cities, including Mumbai, where the Shiv Sena (UBT) performed significantly better.