Ruling MVA, opposition BJP claim victories in panchayat polls

Mumbai: The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi, as well as BJP, claimed that they had performed well in the gram panchayat elections, results of which were announced on Monday. Gram panchayat elections are not contested on party symbols, but political parties support panels in the panchayats and once these panels win, the parties claim that the victory belongs to them. State Congress chief and Maharashtra revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat claimed that the ruling coalition has won 80% of the total gram panchayat polls. The NCP and Shiv Sena also made similar claims. “The results show that people are happy with the three parties coming together. The results are a reflection of the popularity of the MVA alliance,” said Thorat.

Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis, on the other hand, claimed that BJP had won more than 6,000 out of the 12,711 gram panchayat elections held in the state. “We have emerged as the single largest party in the state in these elections. During the Covid lockdown, the Centre strongly stood behind the people while the state could not even help out the state’s farmers who were in distress,” he told media persons. “So, in spite of the three parties (the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress) coming together, the BJP has still emerged as the single largest party.”

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil acknowledged that it was difficult to find out which party had won in the elections but said BJP had fielded its party cadres during the gram panchayat polls and so they were aware of how well the party had performed. The claims notwithstanding, the BJP faced several embarrassments. For instance the panel supported by Chandrakant Patil lost in his native village Khanapur in Kolhapur. Similarly, the panel supported by former state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve, who is also a Union minister of state at the Centre, lost in Bhokardan. Not just the state, the parties did not agree on even which regions they had won. For instance, in Konkan, both BJP and Shiv Sena claimed they had performed better. Meanwhile, a panel supported by the Aam Aadmi Party won in a village in Latur district.