The BJP on Tuesday claimed victory in 2,348 of the 7,000 gram panchayats in Maharashtra for which results were declared. The ruling coalition, of which the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is a part, claimed to have bagged 3,190 panchayats in total and said it was now ahead of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in rural Maharashtra. The Opposition alliance dismissed the claim as an exaggeration. The polls for 7,135 gram panchayats were held on Sunday while in the rest of the 616 panchayats, members and sarpanches were elected unopposed. Since gram panchayat elections are not contested on party symbols, the ruling alliance and the MVA indulged in political one-upmanship and claimed they had won more panchayats. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state president Jayant Patil said his party had won 1,300 gram panchayats while the MVA’s tally goes up to 2,651 when the village bodies won by allies Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) are accounted for. The provisional numbers for the sarpanch polls, which were a direct contest, are — BJP: 1,422; Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena: 709; NCP: 987, Congress: 607; Shiv Sena (UBT): 571; and others: 1,135. The final numbers are awaited. A preliminary analysis of the trends indicates that the BJP is ahead in the village local body polls, followed by the NCP, while the Shinde faction of the Sena is way ahead of the Thackeray group. Even the Congress has overtaken the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray. Though the final results were awaited as counting was underway in some panchayats, the BJP and the Shinde faction were quick to claim victory. CM Eknath Shinde told reporters, “The BJP-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena got a thumping victory. It is a befitting reply to our rivals who mocked our coalition government. The success has brought greater responsibilities and we will work to fulfil the aspirations of rural Maharashtra.” Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis told the media at the Nagpur Vidhan Bhavan premises, “The BJP is way ahead of other political parties thus reasserting its number one party status in rural Maharashtra. The results show the people's acceptance of the government and its policies. The success is not confined to any one region but across Vidarbha, Marathawada, north and western Maharashtra, and Konkan." Jayant Patil dismissed the ruling coalition’s claim that it had overtaken the MVA in rural Maharashtra. “All the results have yet to come. There are at least 1,400 gram panchayats whose final tally is awaited as per our information. We expect to enhance our tally. Even after misusing all government machinery, the Shinde-Fadnavis government cannot dislodge the MVA’s rural base in the state.” Pointing out that the difference between the tally of the BJP and the Shinde faction of the Sena was huge, Patil said the differences would increase further. “The NCP has kept its upper hand in the rural belt,” he claimed. Congress chief Nana Patole said the MVA was “ahead of the BJP and the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena” and alleged the ruling parties were “exaggerating their success, which is misleading”. Patole claimed that in Fadnavis’ home district Nagpur, the Congress bagged 200 gram panchayats while the ruling party won only 36. He said the BJP had lost to the MVA even in the deputy CM’s adopted village Fetri, which is 45 km from Nagpur city. “We believe the Congress has won 900 gram panchayats,” he added. NCP leader Shashikant Shinde said, “Our information is that the MVA is ahead of the Shinde-Fadnavis coalition. The ruling parties’ decision to enforce direct elections for sarpanch was a ploy to wield greater clout in rural Maharashtra. There are several gram panchayats where the NCP has more members but the BJP is managing its sarpanch through direct polls. This will prove detrimental to the functioning and development of the rural bodies.” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, “In gram panchayat elections, ruling parties always claim to have an edge. But our information is that the Shiv Sena, along with the Congress and the NCP, has performed well.” State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule responded to the MVA leaders’ statements, saying, “The Opposition should admit people have voted for Shinde and Fadnavis-led coalition for good governance.” The districts where the panchayat polls took place are Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Nanded, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Hingoli, Latur, Jalna, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Nagpur, Wardha, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, and Yavatmal. Meanwhile in the Assembly Alok Deshpande writes: The Shraddha Walkar murder case was discussed in the Assembly on Tuesday, the second day of the Winter Session in Nagpur. Fadnavis clarified that there were no indications of any political pressure being exerted in the case — an allegation the BJP has levelled against the MVA — but announced the formation of a committee to probe the police's alleged role in not taking action based on Walkar’s complaint against her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala who is accused of murder her. Fadnavis said the government was not against interfaith marriages but added that laws made by other states against illegal religious conversions would be studied and if needed a similar law would be enacted in Maharashtra. The second day witnessed five adjournments during Question Hour as Leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar questioned the government about a stay on developmental schemes. Fadnavis said almost 70 per cent of the stays had been lifted but as sloganeering continued, the House was adjourned multiple times. The BJP took aim at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that has been under the control of Shiv Sena (UBT) for over two decades. The ruling party called for inquiries into road construction and procurement of medicines, alleging that the Thackeray-controlled civic body had been benefitting builders. Sena MLA and former minister Aaditya Thackeray's potshots at the MLAs in the Shinde group also created moments of confrontations between the two sides.
