This story is from December 11, 2018

BJP takes Dhule’s civic body for first time

BJP takes Dhule’s civic body for first time
MUMBAI: The BJP wrested control of the Dhule Municipal Corporation from the NCP on Monday, while a clear majority eluded all in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation.
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Despite rebellious MLA Anil Gote putting up several candidates in Dhule, the BJP won 50 of 74 seats to maintain its streak of winning local self-government bodies under the stewardship of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
It was the first time the party won the Dhule civic house.
In a shock to the BJP in Ahmednagar, Shripad Chindam, expelled by the party earlier this year for making derogatory remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj while he was deputy mayor, won as an independent candidate. Still, the BJP improved its tally to 14 seats from nine in 2013.
The Shiv Sena emerged the largest party with 24 seats, followed by the NCP at 18. The Congress was pushed down to five.
The outcome was a setback to senior Congress politicians Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Balasaheb Thorat and state Youth Congress president Satyajeet Tambe, all of whom hail from Ahmednagar.
In Dhule, the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won four seats and the Samajwadi Party two, while the Shiv Sena could secure only a solitary seat.

For the BJP, gaining control over the Dhule Municipal Corporation was a major victory in North Maharashtra, since the entire opposition had drafted a plan to defeat it.
The Dhule campaign had also been marked by great friction within the BJP as Gote sought to score over Fadnavis and water resources minister Girish Mahajan.
Besides Fadnavis and Mahajan, tourism minister Jaikumar Rawale and Union minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre sweated it out in Dhule to ensure a BJP victory.
Mahajan, known as Fadnavis’s trouble shooter, drafted a comprehensive strategy to wipe out Gote’s influence in Dhule. Barring Gote’s wife, Hema, all his nominees were defeated by large margins.
In the 2013 election, the BJP had won only three seats while the NCP had bagged 34, the Congress had taken 10 and the Shiv Sena, 11 seats.
The Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena were banking on the anti-BJP campaign launched by Gote, who had levelled serious charges against the chief minister, state BJP president Raosaheb Danve, Mahajan, Bhamre and Rawal.
Gote’s contention was that the BJP was encouraging criminals. In the run-up to the civic elections, Gote had almost quit the assembly and it was the intervention of Fadnavis that stopped him from submitting his resignation to the speaker.
Following Gote’s banner of revolt, Mahajan took charge of election affairs in Dhule district. A master strategist, Mahajan was instrumental in gaining control of the Nashik and Jalgaon municipal corporations and the Jamner Municipal Council, and had played a key role in the victory of the BJP nominee in the Palghar Lok Sabha byelection.
In the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation election, the BJP did make progress but failed to gain control of the corporation. In the 2013 election, it had secured nine seats, while now it won 14 seats, against 18 won by the NCP, five by the Congress and 24 by the Shiv Sena.
In the last election, the NCP had won 18, the Congress had taken 11 seats and the Shiv Sena, 17.
Now if the Shiv Sena joins hands with the BJP, then the combine will gain control of the civic house.
The son and daughter-in-law of former Union minister and BJP Lok Sabha member Dilip Gandhi, Surendra and Dipti, respectively, were defeated by a large margin.
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