NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena alliance on Friday mounted a strong performance in the local body elections across 28 municipal corporations across Maharashtra. According to the latest trends by the state election commission, the Mahayuti alliance is leading in Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Nagpur and Thane.”It is a day of celebration. Today, in Maharashtra, the people of all Municipal Committees and Municipal Corporations have blessed PM Modi’s policies, his nationalism, and his commitment to a developed India. This victory clearly shows that people are hurting those who are performing the snake dance to the Pakistan Army’s tune, with their votes… This result is a victory for the nationalist forces,” BJP’s national general secretary Tarun Chug said.
Election Results
“Before the result was announced, Rahul Gandhi, like the Crown Prince of the Gandhi-Nehru family, began playing his old tune in a new way. Sometimes the EVM is wrong, sometimes the elections are wrong, sometimes the voter list is wrong, and now the ink is wrong,” he added.Shiv Sena (UBT) with its, lackluster performance, stood at distant second. Meanwhile, the much anticipated coming together of both the factions of NCP also faltered in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal elections. Similarly, Congress also failed to make a mark across all municipal corporation polls.Here are the highlights of the Maharashtra local body polls:Brihanmumbai Municipal CorporationMahyuti alliance is set for a historical victory in Mumbai, ending three-decade reign of Shiv Sena.According to the latest trends, BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance is leading in 117 wards in Mumbai.BJP is leading in 86 seats, Shiv Sena is leading in 31 seats in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance has crossed the 68 mark, with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leading in 9, the UBT Sena in 58, and the NCP (SP) in 1.Similarly, Ajit Pawar’s NCP is also leading in 1 seat, while the Congress party continued to have a dismal performance with leads in only 10 seats.In the high-profile battles, Sena (UBT)’s Foram Parmar is trailing in Ward 1 while Gita Bhandari of the same faction is ahead in Ward 32. Shinde Sena’s Varsha Tembelkar is leading in Ward 51, and BJP candidates Deepak Tavde, Ujjwal Veti, and Neil Somaiya are showing strong leads.In Dharavi, Congress’ Asha Deepak Kale clinched Ward 183, offering a rare bright spot for the party.Mumbai recorded a voter turnout of 52.94 per cent, according to data shared by the State Election Commission.Pune Municipal CorporationThe united Pawars suffered a massive setback in Pune municipal elections.According to reported trends, BJP is leading in 90 out of the 165 seats in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), whereas the Pawar-Pawar combo failed to materialise support, staying at 20 seats till now.In Pune’s first results, from Ward No. 20 in the Shankar Maharaj Math-Bibewadi area, three BJP candidates, Rajendra Shilimkar, Tanvi Divekar, and Mansi Deshpande, were elected, while NCP’s Gaurav Ghule also emerged victorious, defeating BJP’s Mahendra Sundecha.The last elections of PMC were held in 2017, eight years ago. Murlidhar Mohol, currently the Union minister of state for civil aviation and cooperation, served as the mayor of Pune till November 2019.Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal CorporationLike other cities, BJP is poised to sweep Pimpri-Chinchwad local body polls. According to the latest trend, the BJP was leading in 70 seats, while the NCP, led by deputy CM Ajit Pawar, was leading in 40 seats. Both the parties contested the polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad elections independently.The BJP had single-handedly held power in the previous five-year terms from 2017 to 2022 in Pune and PCMC civic bodies, after which the Administrator had control of the civic body due to a delay in civic polls after it was put on hold by the Supreme Court on the reservation issue.In Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, the BJP is contesting independently against its Mahayuti partners, the NCP and Shiv Sena, headed by deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, respectively. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress are also in the fray.The poll campaign in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad was marked by sharp exchanges between Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and the BJP. Ajit Pawar had targeted the local BJP leadership over the alleged irregularities in the functioning of the two civic bodies.Nagpur Municipal CorporationThe Mahayuti alliance also registered a solid performance in Nagpur local body polls. According to the latest trends, Mahayuti alliance has crossed the majority mark in the 151 seats of the local body.The BJP is looking comfortable with over 80 seats out of 151 in Nagpur.The Congress is trailing far behind, while no other Maha Vikas Aghadi constituent has reached double-digit figures in the counting so far.Nagpur recorded a voter turnout of 51 per cent in the civic polls held on Thursday, a civic official said. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat were among those who cast their votes.The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has 151 seats across 38 wards. The BJP has 143 seats contesting , while its ally, the Shiv Sena, is fielding candidates in eight.Thane Municipal CorporationTrends from the Thane civic polls show the Mahayuti alliance leading in 41 seats as counting continues, with the Shinde’s Shiv Sena ahead in 27 seats and the BJP in 14. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS are leading in one seat each, NCP is ahead in seven seats, and Congress is ahead on 2 seats.Among the bigger flashpoints is ward 9 in Naupada-Kopri administrative division, where the two Sena factions are squaring off in two seats. In Diva, MNS mounted a direct challenge to Shiv Sena in seats 27A, 28C and 20C in Naupada, while also taking on BJP in seat 11C. In two Diva seats, candidates from MNS and Sena (UBT) were fielded independently, possibly signalling a calibrated attempt to collectively blunt Sena’s dominance. Go to Source
