Shiv Sena-BJP leading in Maharashtra Civic Polls

Mumbai: Counting of votes for 10 civic bodies in Maharashtra began Friday morning with the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking an early lead in Mumbai and Nagpur.

Initial trends indicated that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance was set to retain control of the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the richest civic body in India.  

In Nagpur, the Sena-BJP combine had won four seats and was ahead in 14. The Congress was leading in eight and the NCP in two of the 135-member corporation.

In Pune, the Congress and the Shiv Sena were locked in a close contest for power the with Sena-BJP alliance winning 10 seats, the NCP bagging eight and the Congress four.

Nearly 46 percent of the 8.4 million voters in Mumbai exercised their franchise Thursday for India’s richest civic body, while the average was 58 percent in the rest of the state, said an official of the State Election Commission.

The other corporations that went to polls Thursday were Pune, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Solapur, Akola Amaravati and Nagpur.