PUNE: Mahayuti is set to govern in 24 of 29 corporations that went to polls Thursday, with BJP emerging as single largest party in 21 civic bodies, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, and Nagpur.
In three cities – Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Ahilyanagar – NCP and Shiv Sena were in the lead, with ally BJP a close second. In some corporations, where BJP was leading, the runner’s up spot was taken up by its Mahayuti ally, leaving the opposition, Maha Vikas Aghadi, with minimal say in how some of the largest cities will be governed.Opposition, meanwhile, won in just five corporations: Latur, Malegaon, Parbhani, Vasai-Virar and Chandrapur.
CM Devendra Fadnavis said people voted for BJP-led Mahayuti as they wanted “honesty and development”. “We have received a record-breaking mandate in many municipal corporations,” he said.Congress was single largest party in Latur and Chandrapur, and its alliance with Sena UBT was leading in Parbhani. Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation went to Hitendra Thakur’s Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi with 71 of the 115 seats. BJP and Shiv Sena had joined hands here, but secured second position with 44 seats. BJP’s poorest performance was perhaps in Malegaon, where Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra party floated by former NCP MLA Asif Shaikh emerged the single largest party with 35 of the 84 seats.
AIMIM was in second place with 21 seats. BJP secured only two seats in the powerloom town.In Latur, Congress dislodged BJP by securing 43 of the 70 seats. BJP came in a distant second with 22 seats. Congress also secured a small margin over BJP in Chandrapur corporation in Vidarbha where it secured 28 of 66 seats; BJP was second with 26 seats.Maharashtra Congress unit chief Harshvardhan Sapkal said: “Although the success we achieved may not be entirely satisfactory, we have fought an ideological battle regardless of wins or losses. The picture that has emerged shows Congress may have mayors in five cities, 350 corporators.”Of the 65 seats in Parbhani, Sena UBT won 25 and Congress 12, crossing halfway mark together. BJP won 12 seats, while Sena failed to open its account. While both factions of NCP came together in Parbhani, the Ajit-led group won 11 seats and Sharad Pawar-led group zero. Sena UBT spokesman Sushma Andhare said: “Like many other places, Parbhani saw a battle between money power vs people’s power, and the latter won,” she said.
