BJP consolidates Mahayuti dominance in Maharashtra local body polls, big blow to MVA
MUMBAI: The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra’s urban local body elections.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attributed the Mahayuti alliance's success in the municipal council and nagar panchayat elections to the BJP organisation and development agenda of the government.
Within the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP won 129 nagar parishas, while Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 51 and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 33. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) put up a weak fight: the Congress won 35 nagar parishads, while Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) won eight each. 24 nagar parishads were won by smaller parties and independent candidates.
The state election commission had held the election for a total of 288 Nagar Parishads.
The BJP also dominated the directly elected president posts of nagar parishads, winning 120 positions; Shiv Sena won 56 and NCP won 36 president posts respectively. The Congress won 35 president posts, NCP (SP) won eight, and Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged nine. 25 president posts were secured by smaller parties and independent candidates.
The BJP further strengthened its position by sweeping a majority of councillor seats.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in a social media post, said that the BJP is 'Number One' again.
"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under the guidance of BJP National President and Union Minister J. P. Nadda and BJP National Executive President Nitin Nabin ji, and due to the tireless hard work of BJP State President MLA Ravindra Chavan and all workers, BJP is once again Number 1 in the state! Heartiest congratulations to all winning candidates and countless thanks to the voters! Now development continues unabated," Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan said that the local body polls victory is due to the hard work of the party workers and the guidance of the senior BJP leaders. He said that once again people showed faith and trust in the BJP, not convinced by the fake narrative of the opposition.
In the multi-dimensional contests, Mahayuti allies- the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP- contested against each other in some places.
There were alliances as well as "friendly fights" among Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents- the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and Congress.
The opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) virtually conceded defeat in the elections, accusing the election commission of "facilitating" the victory of the ruling Mahayuti.
Though the Congress did not perform strongly, it managed to muster relatively better numbers compared to its alliance partners in the opposition.
A political observer said that the local body poll results are not surprising, because people prefer to vote for the ruling party at the state-level or national-level.
"But opposition has to learn a lot and work hard if they really want to become a significant force in state politics. The road ahead for the opposition is not easy at all, while the responsibility for the ruling party has increased. There will be a lot of expectation from people now," he said.
He further added, "The double-engine government has now turned into a triple-engine government, with power consolidated at three levels—Centre, State and local bodies."