BJP wins 717 Gram Panchayats, NCP (Ajit) second with 407 Seats

Results of 2,226 out of the 2,359 gram panchayat results in Maharashtra on Monday showed that the BJP won in 717 gram panchayats, followed by the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP with 407, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 262 whereas the Congress has won 207 seats, NCP's Sharad Pawar faction got 185 and the Thackeray's Sena faction won 114 seats.

The gram panchayat elections are not fought on party names or symbols, however, several parties support own party workers through funds and other resources to keep a hold on the gram panchayats and control the grassroot politics.

While the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit) are in an alliance in the state, the gram panchayat elections were fought separately and in main districts, the BJP and the Ajit faction were fighting each other's candidates. The BJP-supported candidates won in 2 gram panchayats in Baramati.


Baramati, NCP President Sharad Pawar's bastion, saw the Ajit faction winning more gram panchayats than the senior Pawar faction. In Katewadi, the Ajit faction won 14 out of the 16 seats. The results in Baramati are interesting as the Ajit faction is hinting that it may put a candidate from its party for the Lok Sabha polls from Baramati against NCP MP Supriya Sule.