MUMBAI, Jan. 17 -- It's the end of an era for the old guard and the dawn of a new one for the BJP, which, along with its ally, the Shiv Sena, has added a new layer of governance to its political dominance. Its victory in the BMC election firmly establishes the BJP as Maharashtra's most powerful political party. When you parse the numbers, a more nuanced picture emerges in the 227-member BMC, where the BJP has won 89 seats, its ally the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena 29, and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) 65. In the 2017 election, the BJP won 82 seats and the undivided Shiv Sena 84. With this triumph, the BJP now holds the keys to the city, a first for the party. It's a historic win also because it has wrested power from the Sena, which held sway in the BMC for more than 25 years. The verdict is also a day of reckoning for Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. Beyond the numbers, the battle for the BMC was deeply emotional for Thackeray and the Marathi manoos. In their campaign, the Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance reminded the Marathi manoos of how more than a hundred people had been martyred to retain Mumbai within Maharashtra, while preventing it from going to Gujarat. MNS chief Raj Thackeray called the election the "last fight to finish for the Marathi manoos" but the party managed to win just six seats, one less than its 2017 tally of seven. P4...