A crowded Dadar market in Mumbai, Wednesday. (Representational image)
The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies trumped the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by unitedly bagging a majority of the 1,649 seats in the crucial Nagar Panchayat held in 32 of the state's 36 districts, officials said on Wednesday.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party bagging 384 seats against the MVA tally of 944 comprising Nationalist Congress Party's 344, Congress' 316 and Shiv Sena's 284 seats.
The counting for 163 seats in 9 Nagar Panchayats of Gadchiroli district, which went to the polls, shall be conducted on Thursday.
Besides the four major parties, the CPI-M bagged 11 seats, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Bahujan Samaj Party got 4 each, other parties secured 85 seats and a chunk of 206 seats were won by independents.
The election results evoked sharp reactions from both the MVA and the BJP as they could have ramifications in the upcoming local bodies and major civic corporations.
The NCP termed the outcome as the BJP's "rejection" by the people of the state, Congress expressed immense "satisfaction" while the Sena also made "inroads" into newer territories.
NCP National Spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said that the "people of the state have rejected the BJP" and the MVA allies who fought separately, jointly or unitedly in different areas have been accepted by the masses.
Congress state President Nana Patole said the party was extremely satisfied especially as it has bounced back massively in the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena Transport Minister Anil Parab said the results prove that the party has made inroads all over the state and has performed well even in its traditional bastions like coastal Konkan region.
Farmers' leader Kishore Tiwari -- accorded an MoS status, said the polls results are an obvious indicator that the three parties unitedly can overthrow the BJP at any level.
"The framework has been prepared by the Nagar Panchayat election result. It will have serious repercussions for the Opposition parties in the other future local elections and the upcoming dozen-odd major civic corporations. Given the current trends, the BJP is all set to be decimated," Tiwari said.
State NCP President and Minister Jayant Patil expressed gratitude to the voters in the semi-urban centres for supporting the party with 344 seats.
BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said the party will analyse the Nagar Panchayat results carefully and review its strategy for the upcoming elections.
Slamming the Shiv Sena, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said that though the party has its own Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, it was relegated to the fourth position.
Some MVA leaders countered this by saying the BJP's tally has confirmed that in the past it had taken advantage of the Shiv Sena's partnership to build itself, but now that benefit is lacking.
Invigorated by the results, the MVA leaders indicate that they will make efforts to contest all future elections as a powerful alliance to bag the maximum number of seats compared with the Opposition.
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