Mixed trends emerged from Maharashtra’s ten civic corporations, giving anxious moments to the main contending parties as the counting began on Friday.
The initial leads and trends continued to swing at different hours, leaving the situation uncertain for the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, besides their alliance partners, and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), said poll officials
The country’s richest civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, appeared headed towards a hung House, going by early trends and results.
According to reports, the counting of votes began at 7.30 am in the municipal corporation of Thane, while in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad it started at 8 am. The counting in other corporations started at 9 am.
Thane (130)
The Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (SS-BJP) alliance emerged as the single largest entity at the Thane Municipal Corporation winning 61 seats of the total 130.
But the key to taking control of the corporation will lie with the independents and the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, who captured nine and eight seats respectively.
The Congress-NCP alliance finished with 52 seats winning 18 and 34 seats respectively.
Pune (152)
The NCP today suffered a big blow in Pune as its candidate and also the city mayor Mohansingh Rajpal lost to his BJP rival as per the early results for the 152-member Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
MNS has won 5 seats, NCP won in 7, Congress in 3, BJP in 2 and Shiv Sena in 1 seat far.
Ganesh Bidkar (BJP), who was chairman of the standing committee in the outgoing house, defeated Rajpal by 1,264 votes.
Congress and NCP had fought the civic elections independently in Pune while the Saffron alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena joined forces with Ramdas Athavale faction of RPI.
Nasik (122)
Early trends suggested that Bal Thackrey’s Shiv Sena is leading the tally with 6 seats, Congress was leading in 5, NCP in 3, BJP in 4 and MNS in 5.
BJP candidate Dr Rahul Aher was declared elected. He defeated nearest rival, NCP’s Gokul Pingle by a margin of 100 votes.
Sitting BJP corporator Seema Mahesh Hiray was also declared elected.
Pimpri-Chinchwad (128)
Sharad Pawar’s NCP today got a clear majority here by clinching as many as 65 seats whereas its alliance partner Congress won in 8. Shiv Sena managed to win 12 seats. Both BJP and MNS won in 3 seats and 5 seats went to independent candidates.
Nagpur (145)
In a major setback for ruling BJP, its outgoing Mayor Archana Dehankar and Deputy Mayor Shekhar Sawarbandhe of Shiv Sena have lost to Congress nominees in their respective seats, as counting of votes for Nagpur Municipal Corporation is still underway.
Congress candidates Harshada Sabde and Prashant Dhawad defeated Dehankar and Sawarbandhe respectively.
Out of 36 seats for which results are out, BJP has won 19, Congress 10, BSP, Shiv Sena 2 each, NCP and MNS one each.
Mumbai (227)
The fight for control over Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appears all set for a photo-finish even as the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine may end up winning the maximum number of seats. Of the 186 seats for which results have been declared, the Shiv Sena has won 59 and BJP 30.
The Congress has won 40 seats, its ally NCP has got 12. The MNS has emerged victorious in 26 seats; while others have bagged 19 seats.
Of the 41 seats for which counting is underway, Shiv Sena is ahead in 12 seats, Congress is wining in 11 seats, NCP in four seats. Raj Thackeray’s MNS is ahead in two seats, RPI in three, while others are marching towards victory in nine seats – till 13.47 pm when last updates came in.
Incumbent Mayor of Mumbai, Shradha Jadhav, has won her seat.
Ulhasnagar (78)
Out of 78 seats, Congress won in 2 seats and is leading in one, where as NCP has won in 5 and leads in (4), while Shiv Sena has managed to win 10 seats. The party is currently leading in nine seats, while its alliance partner BJP has won in 2 seats. Raj Thackrey’s MNS has won in one seat while independents have emerged victorious in 7 seats.
Amravati (87)
In Amravati, both Congress and NCP bagged two seats where as Shiv Sena has won in 3 seats. One seat went to an independent candidate.
Akola (63)
With 19 seats, Congress has maintained its lead over its nearest rival BJP which won in 14 seats here. Shiv Sena has won in 7 seats and NCP bagged 3 seats. So far, MNS could win only one seat while independents have clinched 10 seats.
Solapur (102)
With 8 Seats each, both BJP and NCP are giving a tough contest to each other. The two parties are closely followed by Congress, which won in 7 seats followed by Shiv Sena with five seats. One seat went to an independent candidate whereas MNS has still not open its account here.
The results for 27 Zilla Parishads, 309 Panchayat Samitis and 10 municipal corporations, including Mumbai would be declared by the afternoon.
However, political parties have expressed disappointment with Thursday’s voter turnout that stood at a dismal 46 per cent – with most of the elite choosing to ignore the polls.
It is a do-or-die battle for the Shiv Sena that has controlled the country’s richest civic body BMC since 1996. Also, it is a big test for the ruling Congress and the NCP that contested together for the first time.
BMC, the country’s richest civic body with a budget of over Rs 20,000 crore, more than that of many states, has 227 seats.
A total of 3.5 crore voters were registered to elect 1,244 councillors, including 624 women, in Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Nashik, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur municipal corporations.
While the ruling Shiv Sena is fighting to retain its last bastion, the Congress-NCP have tied up for civic polls for the first time. Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, is pegged as a dark horse, and seen as the likely kingmaker in what many say could be a neck-on-neck contest.
According to officials of the state election commission, Solapur, Nashik and Amravati municipal corporations recorded the highest voter turnout at 58 per cent.
Akola was a close second at 57 per cent.
Thane registered a voter turnout of 52 per cent while Ulhasnagar municipal corporation in Thane district registered a voter turnout of a mere 43 per cent.
Pune registered a turnout of 53 per cent while the adjoining Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation registered a turnout of 56 per cent. Nagpur registered a turnout of 55 per cent.
With Agency Inputs