Saffron surge in Maharashtra civic polls

MUMBAI: After a spate of defeats and a string of setbacks, the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra staged a spectacular comeback in the polls to ten major municipal corporations in the state. The Congress, which has been in roaring form for quite some time in the state, courtesy Narayan Rane, fared badly in most of the cities. In comparison, the NCP has done well in most of the cities.

The saffron siblings are not only set to return to power in their bastion ��� the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ��� but also appear certain to retain Thane and win Nagpur and Ulhasnagar corporations. In other cities also where they fought as a combine, Shiv Sena-BJP have delivered a fairly decent performance.

The saffron combine, however, lost power in Nashik and Akola. While the saffron parties retained power in cities where they were largely speculated to lose, the Congress has not been able to put in even a decent performance in any of the cities on its own.

The BJP-Shiv Sena���s victory in Nagpur here has come as a great relief to state BJP president and local politician Nitin Gadkari. Here, the Congress has had to pay a heavy cost for the infighting between Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar and Maharashtra textiles minister Satish Chaturvedi.

So humiliating has been the Congress defeat in Nagpur that incumbent mayor and Chaturvedi���s protege Naresh Gawande lost the polls. BJP returns to power after a gap of five years here.

Much against expectations, the saffron combine has retained power at Thane. Here, the Congress has suffered heavily for not striking an alliance with the NCP. On its own, the Congress has done well in cities of Solapur, Amravati, Akola, and Nashik.

In Amravati and Solapur, results project Congress��� return to power, provided the NCP chips in. The NCP, in particular Sharad Pawar���s nephew Ajit Pawar, has ensured a clean sweep in Pimpri-Chinchwad also.

In Akola, the pre-poll alliance between Congress-NCP has won power while in Nashik, the ���secular��� parties would have to cobble up a post-poll alliance. Raj Thackeray���s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has caused a considerable damage to the saffron alliance in Nashik. The MNS has also opened its account in all cities except Pimpri-Chinchwad.