Maharashtra is all set for the results of its local body elections, including the Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayat elections across the state. The counting of votes for a total of 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats will begin at 10:00 am today. The polling was held in two phases on December 2 and December 20. The local body elections witnessed a direct contest between the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, with several seats also seeing friendly contests among alliance partners, including the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.The results are crucial as it would offer a picture of the shifting political equations on the ground, ahead of the much larger municipal corporation elections scheduled next month.
Leaders of the Mahayuti alliance, including Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, have been actively campaigning across Maharashtra. However, from the Opposition, only the Congress has been seen campaigning on a large scale.Within the Mahayuti, the BJP and the Shiv Sena have put up rival candidates in several districts such as Sindhudurg, Satara, Dharashiv, Palghar and Thane. In contrast, the two rival NCP groups led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar have come together in Kolhapur.In Vidarbha, which is Fadnavis’s strong region, the BJP and Congress are mainly fighting each other. The BJP is contesting all 27 cities there, while Congress is contesting 22, leading to direct contests in 18 cities.