Mumbai: The country’s richest civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, appeared headed towards a hung House, going by early trends and results.
Counting for 10 municipal corporation polls held yesterday and elections to 27 zilla parishads and 309 Panchayat Samitis held on February 7 began this morning. In Mumbai, the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine was ahead in 75 seats, while the Congress-NCP combine was ahead in 50 seats. Raj Thackeray-led MNS was leading in about 25 seats.
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The Sena has bagged 8 seats, BJP 3, Congress 3, NCP 1 and MNS 1 as per the results declared so far. In Thane, the Sena-BJP combine was leading in 45 seats while the Congress-NCP front was leading in 36 seats. In Pimpri-Chinchwad, NCP was leading in 30 seats. Altogether 2,232 candidates were in the fray for 227 electoral wards in Mumbai.
Elections were also held yesterday for Thane, Pune, Ulhasnagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Nashik, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur municipal corporations. The Shiv Sena-BJP combine rules Mumbai, besides the neighbouring Thane (total seats 130), Ulhasnagar (78), Nashik (122) and Nagpur (145).
Congress controls Amravati (87), the Congress-NCP combine rules in Pune (152) and Solapur (102). NCP alone holds Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body (126) while Congress alone rules in Amravati (87). Akola municipal corporation has 73 seats and was under Congress-NCP rule but was dissolved by state government last year over financial irregularities.
In Nagpur, the second capital of the state, the ruling BJP has won 14 seats so far.
Congress has won 7 seats; NCP, Shiv Sena, BSP and MNS have bagged one seat each, while two seats have been claimed by independents. In Nashik, MNS was leading in 6 seats, while Congress, NCP and BJP were leading in five seats each by noon.
BJP had won two seats, where results are out. In Pune, in an upset for NCP, Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal has lost to his BJP rival as per the early results for the 152-member Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
MNS has won 5 seats, NCP has won 7, Congress 3, BJP 2 and Shiv Sena 1 in Pune so 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.
PTI