MUMBAI: In a bitter fight between the ruling allies in the state, the Shiv Sena and the BJP, Jagruti Patil, the BJP candidate won the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) by-poll here on Thursday.
While Jagruti Patil polled 11,129 votes, her nearest rival, Shiv Sena candidate Minakshi Patil secured 6,337 votes in the by-election in ward no. 116 of the eastern suburb of Bhandup, BMC officials declared.
The by-election was necessitated after the death of Congress corporator Pramila Patil on April 25.
The losing candidate, Minakshi Patil, is the wife of local Shiv Sena MLA Ashok Patil. Earlier this year, during the BMC election in February, she had lost to Pramila Patil by a thin margin. However, after Pramila’s death, her two sons joined the BJP and Pramila’s daughter-in-law Jagruti got the party nomination to contest the by-poll.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena, who secured 82 and 84 seats respectively in the BMC elections in the month of February, are both trying to raise their tally. Though the BJP has supported Shiv Sena, it is not sharing the power in the city council with them. Death of the corporator Shailaja Girkar had brought down the BJP’s tally in the BMC last month, which was restored with their victory in today’s by poll.
The election was held on Wednesday that saw an aggressive campaign by both the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The Congress had fielded Pramila Singh as its candidate.
Meanwhile, the BJP also won the by-elections at one ward each in Kolhapur, Pune and Nagpur municipal corporations.