Maharashtra: Kolhe family shares emotional moment after winning Jalgaon local polls

Jalgaon (Maharashtra) [India], January 16 (ANI): Maharashtra's three Kolhe family members; Lalit Kolhe, Sindhutai Kolhe and Piyush Lalit Kolhe shared an emotional moment in Jalgaon after each of them secured a win the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Friday.
Lalit Kolhe, the Shiv Sena candidate, had contested from jail after he was arrested in September in relation to a fake call centre scam. While being a member of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Lalit Kolhe had also served as the mayor of Jalgaon in 2018. Afterwards, the BJP leader Seema Bhole took charge as mayor from 2018 to 2021. Since 2021, Jayshree Mahajan of Shiv Sena has been the mayor of JMC.
Speaking to ANI while celebrating, Piyush Kolhe, who won ward number 4 in Jalgaon said that they have achieved a victory after a lot of people "tried to pull us down".
"Three members of our family won the election. Like my mother said, voters have shown their love for Lalit Kolhe. For the past 15-20 days, people tried to pull us down but truth always triumphs," Piyush Kolhe told ANI.
Sarita Kolhe, the mother of accused Lalit Kolhe had pleged to not wear slippers until her son is out of jail.
While celebrating the win, she thanked the public for making her family members win the election, adding, "He is in jail. Disgusting allegations were made against him. Our voters have broken down the doors of the jail. They showered their blessings on us in the form of votes... Shiv Sena candidates from ward no. 11, including Sindhutai Kolhe and Lalit Kolhe. Piyush Kolhe from ward no. 4. My son, husband and mother-in-law have won the election."
"You can see that neither of us has even worn slippers (as they had pledged)...We have not worn slippers since he (Lalit Kolhe) was arrested. I had said that I will wear slippers once he comes back, but public made everything possible," she added.
A total of 29 municipal corporations went to polls on Thursday, with counting for all of the local bodies happening today.
The Mahayuti alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has expanded its lead in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with the trends from preliminary data indicating that the alliance is leading in 117 wards in Mumbai.
While the BJP is leading in 86 seats, Shiv Sena is leading in 31 seats.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance has managed to cross the 68 mark, with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) only leading in 9, and UBT Sena leading in 58, and NCP (SP) leading only in 1.
Similarly, the Ajit Pawar's NCP is also leading in 1 seat, while the Congress party continued to have a dismal performance. (ANI)