PCMC election results: BJP improves tally in Panvel, retains power with 56 seats

NAVI MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power in the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) for the second consecutive term, defeating the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksha (BSKP), Shiv Sena-UBT, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Congress in Navi Mumbai.BJP improved its tally in the 78-member civic body, winning 56 seats with the support of Shinde-Sena and the NCP-Ajit Pwar group. Its alliance partners Shiv Sena-Shinde and NCP-Ajit won two seats each.In the previous poll held in 2017, BJP won 51 seats. BJP had also won 7 seats before the election was held on Jan 15, with all seven candidates declared elected unopposed after opposition candidates withdrew their candidatures on the last day of withdrawal of nominations.

This sparked a controversy over how so many BJP candidates won without contesting the polls. Sena-UBT won 5 seats in tightly contested wards, and Kharghar candidate Leena Garad, who was with BJP earlier and contested the last year assembly election, won her seat. Congress improved its tally to 4 seats, compared with 2 seats in the last polls. In contrast, MVA's major partner BSKP, which won 23 seats in the 2017 polls, had to contend with 9 seats. Political pundits said BJP MLA Prashant Thakur led the party to victory again.