Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 16 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday called up State BJP chief Ravindra Chavan to congratulate him, as the BJP-Shiv Sena Mahayuti is emerging victorious in Maharashtra civic polls.
CM Fadnavis also called up Mumbai BJP President Ameet Satam and congratulated him on the BJP-Shiv Sena's emerging victory in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
As per the latest trends at 5 pm, the BJP-Shiv Sena's saffron alliance was leading on 130 out of 227 seats in the BMC polls, leaving the Thackeray brothers behind at 71. The BJP is emerging as the largest party in India's richest municipality, with 93 seats, while its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena, has 27.
Shiv Sena (UBT) was leading on 62 seats, with MNS on 9. Congress was leading on 14 seats, while NCP (SP) led on one.
BJP-Shiv Sena have managed to outrun the uncle-nephew duo of Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. In Pune, the BJP was leading on 90 seats out of the total 162, with Shiv Sena leading on two seats, and Mahayuti well above the majority mark. NCP was leading on 20 seats while NCP (SP) was struggling to open its account in Pune. In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance stands at 90 seats, while the NCP leads on 37 seats.
Mahayuti is also emerging well above the majority marks in Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Jalna and Vasai-Virar.
Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane hailed the trends, stating that the Mahayuti will occupy mayor's seats in most of the Municipal Corporations in the state.
In a social media video, Rane said, "It seems that everything is being prepared for people with the 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'I Love Mahadev' mindset, and those belonging to the Mahayuti alliance, to occupy most of the mayor's seats."
A total of 29 Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra held polling on Thursday, with voting counting today.