Muslim-majority Bhiwandi, Malegaon reject BJP in civic polls

Mumbai, May 26 (IANS) The BJP bagged the Panvel civic body in Maharashtra's Raigad district, but was virtually rejected in the Muslim-dominated Bhiwandi and Malegaon towns as per election results declared on Friday, the day when the NDA central government celebrated its third year in power.

In Panvel Municipal Corporation's first civic polls after it was elevated to a corporation last October, the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 51 of the 78 seats where it contested the polls independently.

The Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and Peasants & Workers Party which fought in alliance, secured 27 seats, of which the PWP bagged 23 and the other two partners secured two each.

The BJP had virtually made it a prestige issue to win the civic body and left no stone unturned to capture the corporation, and in the process, Shiv Sena, other parties and independents were wiped out.

Panvel and surroundings are considered critical in the near future with the upcoming new international airport, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and a new city, Naina, which will attract investments in excess of Rs 60,000 crores.

In Malegaon Municipal Corporation with 84 seats in the Nashik district, the Congress emerged the largest single party with 28, followed by Nationalist Congress Party's 20.

The Shiv Sena stood third with 13, the BJP secured nine, the AIMIM bagged seven, the Janata Dal six and a sole independent was elected.

The BJP has contested 55 seats including around 27 Muslim candidates hoping to exploit the triple talaaq issue, but all its Muslim candidates were defeated.

While the Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena fought the polls independently, the NCP fought in alliance with Janata Dal in the elections held on May 24.

The Congress came up trumps in the 90-seats strong Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation in Thane district, by bagging 47 seats and will elect its mayor.

The BJP came a distant second with 19 seats, the Shiv Sena won 12, the Republican Party of India-A four, the Samajwadi Party two, and other smaller parties and independents bagged the remaining six seats.

The Congress bettered its performance dramatically over the last elections in 2012, when it held only 26 seats, but the SP took a massive fall from 17 seats then to just two now.

The Congress announced today that it would govern both BNCMC and MMC - which has thrown up a hung house - by getting its mayors elected in the two civic bodies.

Of the total 252 seats in the three civic bodies, the BJP won 79, Congress 77, Shiv Sena 25, PWP 23 and NCP 22.

The AIMIM bagged seven, the JD six, the RPI-A four, the SP two, other parties and independents won seven.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)