 "BJP sweeps Mira-Bhayander municipal polls winning 61 seats; NCP, MNS, BVA fail to open account")
The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Mira-Bhayander Municipal (MBMC) polls on Monday with full majority. BJP won 61 seats out of the 95 while former ally Shiv Sena managed to win 22 seats. BJP, which had managed just 32 corporators in 2012 and had led the municipal corporation in alliance with Shiv Sena, almost doubled its tally from 32 in 2012 in the current municipal polls while Shiv Sena made a gain of seven seats as compared to what it had won in 2012. [caption id=“attachment_3922605” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] The election has, however, proven to be a major setback for the Nationalist Congress Party, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Hitendra Thakur’s Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi, as each failed to even open their account in the MBMC. With this election, Congress leader Muzaffar Hussain and NCP strongman Gilbert Mendosa’s rule has finally come to an end in the MBMC. While the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, which held MBMC in 2007 in alliance with Congress, ended up with a big Zero as compared to the 26 seats it had won in 2012, Congress dropped eight seats to finish with just 10 wards this time. The voters’ turnout, however, was very low with just 47 percent voters exercising their franchise in the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation election held on Sunday. Counting of votes for the election results began at 10 am on Monday. BJP had fielded 90 candidates while its ally RPI (Athawale group) had put four candidates. Shiv Sena fielded all 94 candidates. And with 22 seats, Shiv Sena will be the main Opposition party in MBMC.
| Party | Seats won (out of 95) |
|---|---|
| BJP | 61 |
| Shiv Sena | 22 |
| Congress | 10 |
| Independent | 2 |
| NCP | 0 |
| BVA | 0 |
| MNS | 0 |
Both Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had campaigned separately ahead of the polls. Former Congress chief minister Ashok Chavan also took part in election rallies but failed to gain much in the municipal polls. The term of the BJP-Shiv Sena rule municipal corporation ends on 27 August. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took to Twitter to congratulate the party. “Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation election victory is because of wave of ‘vishwas and vikas (trust and development)’ created by prime minister Narendra Modi and team BJP’s efforts,” he wrote. Fadnavis also said:
Congratulations to leaders&karyakartas for spectacular win!
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) August 21, 2017
I thank people of #MiraBhayandar for having faith in us!
I assure speedy devpt.
Huge win for @BJP4India at #MiraBhayandar !
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) August 21, 2017
Now, development is certain.
We will certainly live up to the expectations of people. pic.twitter.com/I9b0odW5FU
BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar took to Twitter to congratulate Fadnavis for the win in MBMC. He said:
मिरा-भाईंदरकरांनी "लबाडाघरचे आमंत्रण" नाकारले..पारदर्शी विकासाची हमी देणाऱ्या भाजपचा दणदणीत विजय करून स्विकारले! मुख्यमंत्र्यांचे अभिनंदन! !
— Adv. Ashish Shelar - ॲड. आशिष शेलार (@ShelarAshish) August 21, 2017
Shelar also mocked former BJP ally in the municipal corporation, Shiv Sena, without mentioning the name of the party. He said:
मुंबईत दमछाक, पालघर,कल्याण-डोंबिवलीत अडले, पनवेलमधे भोपळा एमएमआरमधे पाचव्यांदा मतदारांनी उघडा केला "काहींच्या" ताकदीचा अस्सली चेहरा!
— Adv. Ashish Shelar - ॲड. आशिष शेलार (@ShelarAshish) August 21, 2017
But BJP MP Kirit Somaiya showed no such restraint. Somaiya, who is an MP from Mumbai North-East, slammed Shiv Sena in a series of tweets. He said:
BJP sweeps #MiraBhayander Municipal Election-Disaster of #ShivSena hope now BandraSupremo will accept Reality & Respect PM Modi CM Fadnavis
— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) August 21, 2017
This is the third municipal election in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) where BJP has received an absolute majority. The other being Panvel Municipal Corporation, where Shiv Sena failed to even open its account, and Ulhas Nagar Municipal Corporation. BJP is the number two party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, with just seats less than that of Shiv Sena which won in 84 wards. BJP offers unconditional support to Shiv Sena in BMC. In the Kalyan-Dombiwali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) both parties came together after poll results. In KDMC, the first two-and-half-years will have Sena representative as the mayor of the municipal corporation, and then a BJP representative will take over as the mayor for the rest of the term.
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