Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised the Mahayuti alliance for its strong performance in the Maharashtra local body elections. He said the result reflected the people’s trust in development focused governance. In a post on X Modi thanked voters for supporting the BJP and its allies in municipal council and nagar panchayat polls.
"Maharashtra stands firmly with development! Grateful to the people of Maharashtra for blessing the BJP and Mahayuti in the Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections. This reflects trust in our vision of people-centric development," PM Modi wrote. "We remain committed to working with renewed energy to fulfil the aspirations of every citizen across the state. I laud the BJP and Mahayuti Karyakartas for their hard work at the grassroots," PM Modi added.
Vote counting for 286 municipal councils and nagar panchayats began at 10 am on Sunday. The elections were held in two phases on December 2 and December 20.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said around 129 municipal council chairpersons were elected from the BJP. He said the BJP Shiv Sena and NCP led by Ajit Pawar together secured about 75 percent of chairperson posts. He added that more than 3,300 BJP corporators were elected. Fadnavis congratulated alliance partners Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar for their performance.
"First of all, I thank the people of Maharashtra. The people of the state have given massive support to the BJP and the Mahayuti. I had already predicted that out of all the municipal council chairpersons elected, 75% would be from the Mahayuti, and the people have delivered exactly that verdict. It has also become clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party is the number one party. So far, around 129 municipal council chairpersons have been elected from the BJP. Together, all three alliance parties account for 75% of the city council chairpersons. In terms of corporators, the BJP has created a record: 3300 corporators have been elected. This shows the massive public support we have received," Fadnavis said as quoted by ANI.
"I congratulate our allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, whose parties have also performed very well. Our performance has matched that of the Assembly elections. I also congratulate Ravindra Chavan, under whose leadership these elections were successfully conducted. Former president Bawankule, cabinet colleagues, and party workers — all have worked extremely hard. The coordination between the organisation and the party was excellent, and that is why we achieved this victory. This result is even better than 2017, and such a victory has not been seen in Maharashtra in the last 30–35 years," he added.
The local body elections set the stage for a larger political contest in January. Multiple municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Pune Municipal Corporation, will go to polls on January 15, with counting scheduled for January 16.