Solapur Municipal Corporation, Congress bastion, wrested by BJP

BJP has won the Solapur Municipal Corporation polls.

Solapur: In Solapur Municipal Corporation the BJP captured 49 out of 102 seats, followed by Shiv Sena in 21, the Congress in 14, the AIMIM scoring nine, the NCP and the BSP scoring four each, while the Communist Party of India bagged one seat.

Prior to this election, the Sena-ruled Mumbai and Thane in alliance with BJP, MNS had Nashik, BJP had Nagpur, Akola, the NCP had Pimpri-Chichwad, Pune and Ulhasnagar, while the Congress was in power in Solapur and Amravati.

The BJP had also put up a splendid performance in municipal and nagar panchayat elections held across the state in November-January, an outcome hailed by the party leaders as endorsement of the demonetisation and other key policies of the governments at the Centre and in the state.

In 2012, the NCP had won 265 seats across these 10 municipal corporations, while the Congress had won 264 seats. The Shiv Sena had won 227 seats while BJP had won 205 seats.

The BJP also improved its performance in rural areas, traditionally dominated by the Congress and the NCP.

In 2012 zilla parishad elections, Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Amravati, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Kolhapur Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad, Sindhudurg and Yavatmal.

(With Agency inputs)