Eknath Shinde-BJP camp claims victory in gram panchayat elections

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 19

The BJP and Eknath Shinde-backed candidates on Monday secured a comfortable lead over their MVA rivals (NCP, Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena). The BJP state chief claimed they had won more than 50 per cent seats in the elections held on Sunday, which saw a 76 per cent turnout.

In the first phase, elections to 547 gram panchayats and direct elections for the posts of sarpanch were held across 17 districts in the state. Elections to 1,166 gram panchayats across 18 districts are scheduled for October 13. Counting will be held on October 14.

The Maharashtra BJP on Monday celebrated what it called the ruling dispensation’s first decisive win, claiming it was an endorsement of Shinde switching over to the BJP. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said 259 candidates backed by the BJP and 40 supported by the Eknath Shinde-led group of the Shiv Sena had won the panchayat polls.

The BJP is now gearing up for elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the richest municipal body in India with an annual budget of Rs 45,000 crore. In the 2017 BMC polls, the BJP had bagged 82 of the 227 seats and the Shiv Sena 84. The Shiv Sena has controlled the BMC for three decades now.

Sena parted ways with the BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra elections. In June, Eknath Shinde with 39 Sena MLAs led a rebellion against Uddhav, forming a new government with Shinde as CM and BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as Deputy CM.

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