Mumbai/Nagpur, February 24: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the biggest gainer in recently concluded civic polls across Maharashtra. The results suggest that the saffron party under the leadership of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made deep inroads in the state politics, contesting alone in the last Assembly elections and the recent civic polls. However, the results for Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika (BMC) make both the BJP and it is estranged ally the Shiv Sena equals in Mumbai as the former won 82 seats and the latter won two seats. And, the fact is one needs to have at least 114 seats to rule the BMC. Alliance or mutual understanding remains an option for both. But, who will become Mumbai Mayor is a big question as of now.
In Pune Municipal Corporation, the BJP won 96 seats, while Shiv Sena 10. Also, the BJP emerged winner in Ulhasnagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur, Nashik, Solapur, Akola and Amravati Municipal Corporation. In 25 Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis Elections, the BJPgained 409 out of 1518 seats, which is the highest number.
Here are few reasons that made ways for BJP in regional Maharashtra state politics:
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After the results of Maharashtra civic elections, it seems that the BJP had a two big strategy. First to fight for a seat wherever it is strong and wherever the party is not, it import candidates who are strong and have a high chance of winning the elections. It has worked remarkably for the BJP as the party has bagged 8 out of 10 municipal corporations where elections were held.
More than half of the BJP’s elected corporators are either from the NCP, Shiv Sena or Congress. In Pune, it was the NCP and Congress that ruled for over a decade. Once Pune was known as a fiefdom of Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi, it later became a strong bastion of the NCP, especially of Ajit Pawar.
The result of Pune where the BJP recorded historic win was due to a large number of leaders borrowed from all parties.
In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the BJP handed over the reins of its party to a former NCP strongman who brought in many loyalists of Ajit Pawar.
The story of Nashik is similar, where the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party was ruling for last five years. The BJP in Nashik gobbled up almost the entries city unit of the MNS – and pocketed Nashik.
Something similar happened in Ulhasnagar, another mega city bordering Mumbai. In Ulhasnagar, the BJP gave tickets to rebel Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress candidates and the party won 32 seats.
Earlier there were reports that out of 10 municipal corporations, the BJP had a strong chance only in two Municipal Corporations; Nagpur and Akola. Nagpur is home to the RSS headquarter and home to two BJP veterans Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Akola is the same Vidarbha region where the BJP has a strong presence.
Apart from these two, the BJP has won in Amravati, and according to some reports, the credit for the victory goes to Congress-NCP veteran who was inducted into the party recently.
The Maharashtra civic elections offered a perfect timing for the BJP to test its mettle in the state. The gamble worked to an extent that BJP has shown a 300 per cent growth, as the BJP won 82 seats.
The Maharashtra election also throws an important story, which largely says that the state’s political space now belongs to BJP. On the other side, Congress’s decimation continues while NCP stays on road to become irrelevant. Some political experts believe that it is now safe to say, after Maharashtra civic election results, BJP could be the new Congress.
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Updated: February 25, 2017 1:21 AM IST 
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