Mahayuti sweeps Maharashtra local body elections ; Fadnavis says trailer for upcoming BMC polls

Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], December 21 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday thanked the people of the state for putting their trust in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Mahayuti alliance and giving them a decisive victory in the local body polls which concluded recently.
"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," he said in a press conference in Nagpur.
Vote counting for 286 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats began at 10 AM today. The elections were conducted in two phases with some councils going to polls on December 2, and others conducting polls on December 20.
Multiple key local bodies, including Baramati, Ambernath, went to polls. Two councils saw candidates being elected unopposed too, in Angar in Solapur and Dondaicha in Dhule.
Around 129 municipal council chairpersons have been elected from the BJP. Together, all three alliance parties (Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) account for 75% of the city council chairpersons. In terms of corporators, over 3300 candidates of the BJP have been elected, according to Fadnavis.
He also congratulated his alliance partners, including Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and BJP leaders for working hard to get this performance of the party.
"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," Fadnavis said.
Posting about the Mahayuti win on X, CM Fadnavis said that these results are a "trailer" to the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections.
"This victory is just a trailer of what we will see in the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections. I urge every party worker to work even harder and with more efforts for driving us towards greater victories in the future!," he wrote.
Meanwhile in Latur, the BJP has won 4 out of 5 posts president's post in Latur district local bodies.
In Pune district, 17 local bodies went to polls, and the Maha Vikas Agadhi alliance was not able to open its account.
Durgadevi Indrajit Jagdale, candidate of Ajit Pawar's NCP won the mayoral election in Daund Municipal Council, defeating Monali Veer by 4,891 votes.
She attributed her victory to the people, and said that she would work to live upto the expectations of the people and deliver her promises.
"This victory belongs to the people who voted for me and allowed me to serve them. I will try my best to live upto the expectations of the people and deliver the promises," she said.
The local body elections also signal a run-up to the much awaited political contest set to happen in January 15, when multiple Municipal Corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Pune Municipal Corporations, and multiple other local body polls will be held. The vote counting for BMC and other bodies is set to happen on January 15, with counting to happen on January 16. (ANI)