Maha Civic polls: BJP takes commanding lead, PM Modi says victory for 'pro-poor' politics

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a commanding position in the first phase of municipal council polls in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked the people of the state for placing their faith in the party and also hailed the efforts of Chief Minsiter Devendra Fadnavis.

"I laud BJP Karyakartas, CM @Dev_Fadnavis & @raosahebdanve. Their grassroot level work ensured people place their valued trust in BJP," he said in a series of tweets.

Thanking the people of Maharashtra for placing their faith in BJP, Prime Minister Modi said that this is a win for pro-poor & development politics of BJP.

BJP Chief Amit Shah, however, took a swing at the opposition saying that the results are a wake-up call for them.

"BJP has emerged as the largest party, I thank people of Maharashtra for their continued support and faith in BJP's development politics. Maharashtra result should be a wakeup call for opposition attempting to mislead people on #Demonetisation, a decision in national interest," he tweeted.

Post the Centre's demonetisation move, voting was held in 147 municipal seats and 17 Panchayat seats on Sunday.

Early trends indicated the BJP had charged ahead and made its mark in areas that were Congress and NCP strongholds.

Of the 2,501 seats for which results have been declared, the BJP has won 610 seats while the Shiv Sena has won 402. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Indian National Congress have won 482 and 408 seats respectively.

The BJP has clearly retained the public's favour, despite the opposition's fervent claim that the ruling party would face a major loss in the polls, post the inconveniences thrust upon the masses due to demonetisation.