Congress Gains Ground In Maharashtra Civic Polls Despite BJP Sweep

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The local body elections across Maharashtra have once again proved that the BJP is still the powerhouse party in the state, with it managing to wrest away the BMC from the Shiv Sena after more than 25 years. However, the results also showed that there are signs of encouragement for the Congress.

The Congress decided to fight the Maharashtra local body polls solo this year, and chose to concentrate their machinery in areas they were confident of winning.

Out of the total 2,869 seats that were up for grabs this time, the Grand Old Party of India decided to contest in only 528. Out of these, they won more than half - 226 seats.

As per trends till 18:30 pm on Friday, the Congress is at the fourth position among parties in terms of seats won in Mumbai. When it comes to seats won across all the local body polls in the state today, the party is in the third position after the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

How many seats did the Congress contest in?

The Congress contested in select seats across Maharashtra. It fielded 167 candidates out of 227 seats in Mumbai.

Congress fielded 101 candidates in Thane, while 100 of its candidates contested in the local body elections in Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.

The party fielded 60 candidates in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

In which civic bodies is the Congress leading?

The Congress is leading in Bhiwandi Nizampur, Latur, Amravati, Kolhapur, and Chandrapur.

The results are more encouraging for the Congress since this is the first time since 1999 that they are contesting the Maharashtra civic bodies' polls without getting into an alliance with regional outfits.

Why did the Congress decide to go solo?

The Congress parted ways from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which also comprised of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) in the wake of the UBT joining forces with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Uddhav Thackeray's cousin, Raj.

The Congress had earlier criticised the strongman approach of the MNS, as they had physically assaulted people over the Marathi vs Hindi issue in Mumbai.

Moreover, the NCP(SP) had also joined hands with the NCP in Pune, something which pulled the Congress away from their longtime friend, Sharad Pawar.

MENAFN16012026007365015876ID1110609146