Pune: Comprehensive victory in the first phase of the civic polls has multiplied BJP’s bargaining power among Mahayuti partners ahead of the municipal corporation elections, while controlling the exodus has become a major challenge for MVA.BJP dominated the polls to 288 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, bagging president posts in 117 civic bodies. Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena came distant second with 53 seats and NCP led by deputy CM Ajit Power secured third position with 37 seats.
The landslide in the rural parts of Maharashtra has given a significant boost to BJP as its looks to keep up the momentum for the Jan 15 polls to 29 municipal corporations.As the tide swung in favour of BJP, several aspirants from other parties tilted towards it to get tickets for the corporation elections. One of the hopefuls from MVA in Pune, who did not wish to be named, told TOI: “I contested and won the seat in the corporation election in 2017 but remained in the opposition. Now, fighting after a gap of nine years, I do not want to be in the opposition again as BJP is looking to win the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) poll convincingly. Therefore, I am trying for a ticket from BJP.”Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has already announced that BJP will form an alliance with Shiv Sena in most of the corporations, while the third important ally of Mahayuti, NCP, will have a friendly fight with the saffron partners. Even before the results of the first phase of the civic polls were declared, BJP went on a spree of poaching members from other parties. In Pune district alone, the party managed to induct more than 20 members who were aspiring for tickets for the PMC and PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) elections.A BJP member told TOI: “Our party is in a position where we have multiple aspirants queuing up in many municipal corporations. The results of the first phase gave us that edge over other partners in terms of deciding the seat-sharing formula in several corporations. While we will not be ridiculing our allies, we will not compromise when we are in a formidable position.” Political analyst Parimal Maya Sudhakar said, “BJP is not just looking to win the corporation polls but is planning to eat up the space of other parties to expand its base in the entire state. The next four years will be quite eventful as BJP’s stronger position will keep other parties under pressure. And this is exactly the first phase of civic polls has shown.”
