Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Syed Iqbal Syed Khwaja was elected mayor of Parbhani on Thursday, becoming the first Muslim leader to be nominated for the post by the Shiv Sena since the party was formed in the 1960s. The 40-year-old first-time corporator won with the support of the Congress, defeating BJP candidate Tirumala Khilare in a direct contest.

Syed secured 39 votes in the 65-member Parbhani Municipal Corporation, while Khilare got 26. The majority mark in the House is 33. With this win, Parbhani is the only municipal corporation where the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has managed to form the civic government.

Parbhani was one of the first places where the Shiv Sena openly used religious division to win elections. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the party ran campaigns that clearly pitched Hindu voters against Muslim candidates.

In the 1990 Assembly elections, Shiv Sena candidate Hanumant Bobde won from Parbhani after the Congress fielded a Muslim candidate, Shamim Ahmed Khan. Another Opposition candidate split the non-Sena vote, helping Bobde win. The campaign is remembered for the slogan “Khan viruddh Ban” (Khan versus the bow and arrow), which openly framed the contest along religious lines.

After that election, Parbhani became a stronghold of the Shiv Sena, and the party continued to hold the Assembly seat till date.

Today, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is in a very different situation. After the party split, the Uddhav Thackeray faction had to rebuild its base and look for support beyond its traditional voters.

In Parbhani, this shift was unavoidable. Around 42 per cent of the city’s population is Muslim, making it one of the largest Muslim-majority urban areas in Maharashtra.

In the recent municipal elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) gave tickets to many Muslim candidates. Out of the 25 corporators the party elected, 13 are Muslims, including Syed Iqbal.

Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged as the largest party in the 65-member municipal corporation with 25 seats. Congress and BJP won 12 seats each, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 11. Together, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress had 37 members.

First-time corporator Syed Iqbal Syed Khwaja is a local activist and the younger brother of Syed Abdul Khadar, a businessman and social worker with strong influence in Parbhani’s Muslim areas.

Khadar was earlier associated with the AIMIM and is close to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Jadhav, also known as Bandu Jadhav. Jadhav played a key role in reaching out to Muslim voters during the municipal elections. Party leaders say Syed Iqbal’s elevation was also a way to acknowledge that effort.

After his election, Syed said he would work with all communities and focus only on development.

“I am not a Muslim mayor. I am the mayor of everyone. People from all communities voted for me. My only concern is development,” he said.

On Shiv Sena’s past communal image, Syed said political parties change over time. “The aim now is to bring people together, not divide them,” he said.

The BJP criticised the Shiv Sena (UBT) for choosing a Muslim mayor. BJP leader Navnath Ban accused the party of abandoning its talk of Marathi pride and claimed it was “pushing Aurangzeb’s agenda”.

“During elections, they speak about ‘Marathi pride’, but when they got the opportunity to appoint their only mayor, they chose a Muslim candidate,” Ban said.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said the party voted for the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate to keep the BJP out of power and to uphold alliance commitments.

Sapkal also referred to tensions within the alliance after the Chandrapur municipal election, where Shiv Sena (UBT) supported the BJP. Despite this, he said Congress chose not to retaliate in Parbhani and stood by the alliance.

“We kicked away power to uphold alliance dharma and stood by Shiv Sena (UBT). The developments in Chandrapur and Parbhani have made it clear that Shiv Sena (UBT) seeks Congress votes within the alliance but does not reciprocate,” Sapkal said.