The Bharatiya Janata Party, which rode high on its success in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, has run out of steam in the local body elections in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena, which came second in the Assembly polls, has managed to overtake the BJP.
The BJP’s poor performance in the elections to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has offered the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) a chance of revival. The NCP retained its bastion, winning 53 seats, just two short of majority, even after its defeats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
The Sena won 37 seats and the BJP a mere six.
NCP Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare sees in the party’s victory a sign of the receding popularity of the BJP-Shiv Sena government in the State and the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The saffron alliance retained the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, but it was mainly because of the Shiv Sena’s performance; the party won the highest number of seats. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) stunned everyone by winning more seats than the BJP, becoming the second largest party. Furthermore, it has won in the Muslim-dominated areas, and several of its Dalit candidates have romped home.
In the Ambernath and Kulgaon-Badlapur municipal councils, the Shiv Sena and the BJP contested separately, and the Shiv Sena turned out to be the victor.
The only respite to the Congress was its victory in the Bhokar municipal council, a bastion of Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan.
Yet, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told journalists that the saffron alliance had done exceedingly well and the people once again put their faith in it.
