Maharashtra civic polls: Saffron sweep; BJP single largest in Nashik & Sambhajinagar, wins Kolhapur with Sena

Maharashtra's "double engine" Centre-state leadership seems to have laid the track for the BJP-led Mahayuti's urban sweep in civic body polls, consolidating the bloc's post-assembly election momentum.In north Maharashtra, BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 195 out of the total of 423 seats across Nashik, Malegaon, Dhule, Jalgaon and Ahilyanagar districts. Shiv Sena, one of its allies in the Mahayuti dispensation governing the state, won 81 seats. BJP led the chart in Nashik with 72 seats, Dhule (50) and Jalgaon (46), but trailed in Ahilyanagar with 25 seats behind NCP's 27. In Malegaon, it won only two seats.In western Maharashtra, BJP won two municipal corporations - Solapur and Ichalkaranji - on its own. In the Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad municipal corporation, the party, however, fell short by one seat for a comfortable majority and is now expected to secure the required support from the Shiv Sena, which won just two seats and does not require the backing of Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

In Kolhapur, BJP contested as part of the Mahayuti alliance, which comfortably crossed the majority mark by winning 45 out of the 81 seats in the civic body.

Congress, which contested 74 seats, leaving six for Shiv Sena (UBT) and one for an Independent, managed to win 34 seats on its own to emerge as the single largest party. Within Mahayuti, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 26 seats, followed closely by Shiv Sena with 15 seats, while the NCP won four.

In Marathwada, BJP emerged victorious in municipal corporation polls for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded and Jalna, while Shiv Sena (UBT)-Congress combine registered a surprise victory in Parbhani. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, after failed talks with its Mahayuti partner Shiv Sena, BJP fought alone and won 57 out of 115 seats, almost reaching the magic figure to come into power on its own. While the undivided Sena was the single largest party after the last municipal polls, the Shinde and Thackeray factions of Sena won 13 and 6 seats, respectively. BJP also triumphed in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, where it defeated the alliance of NCP and NCP (SP).