Maha Vikas Aghadi wins big in Maharashtra local body polls but BJP emerges as single largest party

In the first big local body election in Maharashtra without the Other Backward Class reservation, the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party in the Nagar Panchayat polls. However, the BJP lagged far behind the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP.

In December, the Supreme Court had stayed 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in local body elections. These seats were converted into general category seats.

NAGAR PANCHAYAT POLL RESULTS

Counting of votes for 106 Nagar Panchayats took place on Wednesday. Of the 1,649 seats declared by the state election commission, the BJP won 384, the NCP won 344, Congress won 316 and Shiv Sena bagged 284. The MVA together bagged 944 seats. It is important to note, however, that the MVA did not contest all seats in alliance; in some places, the parties fought against each other.

Of the 97 (out of 106) Nagar Panchayat results that have come in, the NCP bagged the maximum at 27, followed by the BJP at 22, the Congress at 21 and the Shiv Sena at 17. Local alliances and others won in ten places.

In Marathwada, out of the 22 Nagar Panchayats, the BJP won six, Shiv Sena four, Congress 3 and NCP two. This is being considered a setback for NCP strongman and minister Dhananjay Munde who was pitched against his cousin and BJP leader Pankaja Munde.

Of the 28 Nagar Panchayts in Vidarbha , the BJP and Congress won five each while NCP won two. In Konkan and western Maharashtra, the NCP won eight, BJP five, Shiv Sena four and Congress one.

In northern Maharashtra or Khandesh, out of the 13 Nagar Panchayats, the BJP won three while the Shiv Sena and NCP bagged two each.

LEADERS REACT

Reacting to the results, NCP state president Jayant Patil said, “The results are a tight slap for people who made certain comments against the NCP’s presence Even though we didn't contest in alliance at several places, the results show that people of Maharashtra have chosen all three of us [MVA] over the BJP in many places.”

Meanwhile, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, “Despite gross misuse of money-muscle power and government machinery by MVA, people of Maharashtra firmly stood with BJP in municipal council polls.”

ANOTHER SON RISES IN MAHA POLITICS

The local body elections also saw the emergence of another son in state politics. 23-year-old Rohit Patil, son of former home minister late RR Patil, won the Kavathe-Mahankal Nagar Panchayat in Sangli in western Maharashtra.

He was pitched against the BJP, Congress and even a rebel NCP group. NCP leader Rohit Patil is considered similar to his father and is popular on social media.

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