In a major setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, Tejaswi Ghosalkar, a former corporator and widow of slain party leader Abhishek Ghosalkar, and daughter-in-law of party heavyweight Vinod Ghosalkar, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai on Monday.
In a shocking murder that was captured live on camera in February 2024, Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead by 'social activist' Mauris Noronha when he was doing a live Facebook chat at Noronha's office in suburban Borivali. Ghosalkar and Noronha had longstanding disputes over several issues in the suburbs.
Tejasvi Ghosalkar joining BJP on the eve of the tentatively scheduled elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, sometime in the first half of January 2026, holds significant importance as the BJP pulls all its might to dethrone the Shiv Sena-UBT from its first major stronghold, which also happens to be the richest municipal corporation in India.
The BMC's estimated budget for 2025-2026 is estimated to be Rs 74,427 crore.
Vinod Ghosalkar, the former MLA from the undivided Shiv Sena, is considered very close to the Thackerays and played a significant role in growing the party base in Mumbais northern suburbs since founder Bal Thackeray established the Shiv Sena in 1966.
The Ghosalkars hold substantial political clout in Borivali, Magathane and Dahisar area of north Mumbai, which elect about 18 to 20 of the total 227 BMC wards in Mumbai. Each ward sends one corporator to the Mumbai civic body.
In the last election held in 2017 -- the BMC election is held every five years and the term of the current body ended in 2022 since when the BMC has been ruled by a state-government appointed administrator -- the undivided Shiv Sena had won 84 and the BJP 82 locking them in a tight contest.
Though the BJP made efforts to capture power in 2017 the Shiv Sena fought a hard battle to retain the corporation. Since the Shiv Sena split in June 2022 the BJP has been making plans to capture the richest civic body in India.
The Sena-UBT has ruled the BMC uninterruptedly since 1989.
IMAGE: Tejasvee Ghosalkar joined the BJP in Mumbai, December 15, 2025. Photograph: Sahil Salvi