Shiv Sena pips BJP in Kalyan-Dombivli, Congress-NCP sweeps Kolhapur

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena and the BJP have both come out a bit unscathed from the Kalyan-Dombivli civic elections. While Sena has emerged as the single largest party with 52 seats, the BJP has come second with 42 seats in the 122-member civic house.

The bitterly fought elections where Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray both took on each other publicly was meant to be a dress rehearsal for the crucial 2017 Mumbai civic elections where the two parties are expected to fight separately.

The outcome of KDMC results, however, has left both the camps satisfied as well as wary of the other party. The BJP hoped that it would be able to stop Sena from getting more than 45 seats; the Sena even though it has got more seats than last time (32) is still short of the majority and needs either the BJP or the MNS or independent councillors votes to come to power. Importantly for the Sena, the results also lead to the realisation that BJP is going to be its main challenger. In the last KDMC polls, the BJP had got only 9 seats as against 42 now.

The Sena would realise that the BJP would again emerge as its main opponent in the Mumbai civic polls if it fights separately. In, fact sources, say that after emerging as the single largest party in the KDMC, the Sena would become belligerent in its interaction with the BJP.

Sources in the Sena said that if the BJP does not come to power in the Bihar polls, their party leaders would behave aggressively with the BJP not just in the state but also in the Centre.

The BJP has suffered a setback in the Kolhapur civic polls where till afternoon it was leading in 32 seats, however, by the time the final results came in the Congress emerged as the single biggest party with 27 seats, while the NCP got 15 and the BJP got 12, whereas the Sena got only 4.

The Congress and the NCP, however, had plenty to ponder as in the KDMC polls the tally of both the parties has come down drastically. During the last elections, the Congress had 16 and the NCP 14, this time the Congress has got 4 while the NCP has got 2.

The biggest loser is the MNS that saw its seats tally come down to 9 from 27.