Congress and BJP performance in Maha civic by-polls sets of alarm bells in state political circles

Congress performs well in both ZP and Panchayat Samitis, while BJP has performed well in ZP elections

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Pune: The emergence of the Congress as the single largest party with maximum seats won in the Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad by-elections should ring alarm bells not just for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but also for its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

By-election results to 85 Zilla Parishad and 144 Panchayat Samiti seats announced on Wednesday. 

It must be borne in mind here that none of the major political parties in the state had contested these by-elections by forging an Aghadi or a Front (Alliance or a Panel),

But individually, the BJP has put up a commendable performance, despite being on the opposition benches. Though it came second to the Congress in Panchayat Samiti elections, it did emerge as the single largest party in the by-elections to 85 Zilla Parishad seats.

The by-polls were held in six districts of the State – Nagpur, Akola, Washim, Latur, Dhule and Palghar with 367 candidates in fray in the ZP by-polls and 555 candidates for the Panchayat Samiti seats.  

While the three parties together won on 46 of the 85 seats in the ZP by-polls, the BJP nevertheless emerged as the single largest party here, winning 23 seats.

What should be alarm bells for the rest of the political parties is the eye-catching performance of the Congress. Of the trio in the MVA, the Congress has performed well winning 17 ZP seats and bagging the highest number seats (35) among all parties (including the BJP) in the Panchayat Samiti by-polls.  

If one were to consider the MVA as a coalition, it won a total 73 of the 144 Panchayat Samiti seats, with the BJP winning on 33, second to the Congress’ tally. The Shiv Sena and the NCP managed to win on 12 and 17 ZP seats respectively while bagging 22 and 16 Panchayat Samiti seats respectively. 

An elated Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Nana Patole, who has been vocal about the party contesting independently in the upcoming civic body polls, said that the results proved that the Congress was on its way to becoming the number one party in Maharashtra.  

“Given the high-handed manner in which the BJP government at the Centre is behaving, be it suppressing farmers in Uttar Pradesh or abusing central probe agencies, I think people have realized that only the Congress has the wherewithal to rein it in… I thank the public in all these six districts for recognizing the Congress as a viable force to counter the BJP,” remarked Patole, while promising to repair all organizational glitches within the party. 

Patole however, remained non-committal on whether the Congress would contest the next years crucial municipal corporation elections in alliance with the Sena or the NCP. He merely remarked that his aim was to build his party’s strength.   

According to political observers, the Congress’ win would certainly give a major boost to the party rank-and-file in the State ahead of the municipal corporation elections. 

Despite being the by-elections to local bodies, the ZP seats were hotly contested given that the prestige of a number of ministers in the state government, MLAs and MPs was on the line. 

The Shiv Sena suffered a major setback in the Palghar ZP after MP Rajendra Gavit’s son, Rohit Gavit lost the Vanai seat to BJP’s Pankaj Kore. Both the Sena and the BJP won five seats each in the Palghar ZP byelection. 

The Congress swept the crucial Nagpur ZP, defeating the BJP and proving that the party still reigned supreme in the rural Vidarbha region which is incidentally considered to be the BJP’s stronghold. 

The Congress won nine of the 16 ZP seats in Nagpur, despite the machinations of the party’s general secretary Ashish Deshmukh who had campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidates. The result was a personal victory for senior Congressman and Maharashtra Minister Sunil Kedar, who lead the party’s campaigning.  

However, the Akola ZP was won by Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which bagged six of the 14 ZP seats, defeating all the major parties.

BJP MLA from Nandurbar Vijaykumar Gavit’s daughter Supriya was among the winners in the Nandurbar ZP, while his nephew Pankaj suffered defeat. Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra Tribal Affairs Minister K.C. Padvi’s sister, Geeta Padvi, won one of the14 seats in the Nandurbar ZP.

The BJP retained the Dhule ZP, winning eight of the 15 seats, with a notable win being that of Dharti Deore, who is the daughter of the president of the Gujarat State BJP C.R. Patil. 

Meanwhile, BJP Leader of Opposition (LoP) Pravin Darekar dismissed Patole’s remarks of the Congress’ win being significant, retorting that supplanting the BJP in Maharashtra was not an easy task for any of the MVA partners. “The Congress may have scored a few more seats in the local bodies, but it has an uphill task if it seeks to dislodge the BJP,” remarked Darekar. 

Remarking pointedly that the Shiv Sena, which was the BJP’s ‘natural ally’, was in a sorry state after the results, Darekar claimed that the Congress and the NCP, which had performed better than the Sena, were bent on “finishing the party”.