Jolt to Praful Patel and NCP in municipal polls

NAGPUR: NCP stalwart Praful Patel has received a big jolt in the recently concluded local elections as his party has lost in all the four municipal councils of Bhandara district. Out of the total 90 wards, NCP has managed to win in only 16 while BJP has won in 47. Three of council presidents are from BJP while one is from Nagar Vikas Aghadi, a local outfit of Paoni.
NCP and Congress seem to be on the wane in east Vidarbha.In the neighbouring Gadchiroli district, the two parties have been wiped out and BJP has won both Gadchiroli and Desaiganj municipal polls with ease.
BJP has won Tumsar and Sakoli councils with a clear majority. In Bhandara, it is likely to form government with the help of independents. In Paoni, NCP may get a chance to form government by allying with Nagar Vikas Aghadi. This is a major loss for NCP as it was ruling Bhandara and Tumsar councils till now. Paoni was ruled by Shiv Sena until the government fell due to schisms in the party while this is the first election in Sakoli, which was earlier a gram panchayat earlier.
The former civil aviation minister had lost the 2014 parliamentary polls to Nana Patole of BJP by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes. In the assembly elections, held a few months later, BJP won five out of six seats in his constituency and the sixth one was bagged by Congress.
However, Patel bounced back in the local body elections held in 2015. NCP did well in Goregaon, Sadak Arjuni and Deori municipal councils. NCP formed government with the help of Congress in the former two while in Deori it did not need the support of anyone. It also formed government with Congress in Bhandara zilla parishad. However, Patel received a shock when Congress formed government with BJP in Gondia zilla parishad. Gondia Congress MLA Gopaldas Agrawal was not punished by Congress high command for striking this alliance.
The NCP stalwart received another jolt some six months ago when BJP toppled the Congress and NCP government in Gondia municipal council and came to power with the help of independents. Another big humiliation was in store for Patel. In November, Parinay Fuke of BJP soundly thrashed his close aide and sitting MLC Rajendra Jain in the MLC elections from Bhandara-Gondia local bodies constituency. This was a high voltage election as Fuke is a close aide of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The former heavy industries minister has a chance to redeem himself as Gondia and Tiroda municipal councils are going to polls on January 8. Whether he will be able to turn the tide will be known only on January 9.
Meanwhile, BJP swept Gadchiroli municipal council elections by winning 20 out of 25 seats. Congress won one seat while NCP drew a blank. The council president is from BJP. In Desaiganj, BJP has won 12 out of 17 seats while Congress has won 4. Here too the council president is from BJP.
Commenting on BJP’s performance, Tariq Qureshi, Bhandara district president of the party, said, “It is a victory of BJP’s party organization in the district and the development works done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”