BJP wins 8 of 10 Maharashtra corporations

MUMBAI: In the hierarchy of elections, municipal elections are generally considered a lowly third, after Lok Sabha and Assembly. But the very bitter falling-out between allies BJP and Shiv Sena had already injected a strong element of both political and personal drama into the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the country's richest civic body, which the Thackerays have controlled for two consecutive decades. That the interest of Mumbaikars had been piqued was evident from the 55%-plus turnout on Tuesday - the highest in at least 25 years and higher than even the 2014 LS elections.

Over 1.95 crore voters across the state were entitled to exercise their franchise to choose representatives for ten city corporations. 9,208 candidates contested for the 1,268 seats across all ten civic bodies.

The fallout of Sena and BJP turned the municipal polls into a battle of prestige for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Apart from the civic bodies, the results of 11 Zilla Parishads (ZPs) and 118 Panchayat Samiti elections, in which 1.80 crore people were eligible to vote, were also declared today.

According to State Election Commissioner JS Saharia , 3.77 crore voters collectively decided the fate of 17,331 candidates in rural and urban areas across Maharashtra.

To ensure a fair and seamless election process, around 43,160 polling booths were setup and almost five lakh election staff and police personnel were deployed.