Pawars save bastion Baramati in local polls

Nationalist Congress Party top leaders -- Sharad Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule and nephew Ajit Pawar -- managed to defend their home bastion against an onslaught led by the BJP and others, and bagged 35 of the 39 seats in Baramati Municipal Council elections.,

In a major relief to the state's numero uno political family, Baramati in Pune district returned 35 NCP candidates and four Independents in election results declared on Thursday. All other political parties drew a blank. NCP candidate Purnima Tawde was elected council President.

Elsewhere, in elections to 14 municipal bodies, results of which also were announced on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged five posts of council Presidents and 81 of the total 324 seats contested.

The NCP bounced back with a total of 93 seats and two posts of council Presidents, including Baramati in Pune district and Ausa in Latur.

The Congress performance was a notch lower with a total of 45 seats and two posts of council Presidents -- Indapur and Jejuri, both in Pune district.

The Shiv Sena came fourth by netting 23 seats and one council presidentship in Junnar.

Independents and smaller state parties put up unexpectedly good performance by bagging four council Presidents' posts, including an Independent who will head the Daund council, and bagged 82 seats.

Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen of Asaduddin Owaisi bagged six seats in Udgir, Latur, where a BJP nominee was elected the council President.

The Shirur Vikas Aghadi bagged the council President's post and 12 seats in Shirur, where Independents won seven and the BJP two seats.

In Saswad, the Janmat Vikas Aghadi bagged the council President's post and 17 of the 19 seats. The remaining two went to the Shiv Sena.

The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi bagged the Ahmedpur Municipal Council President's post plus four seats. The NCP bagged nine of the 23 seats, the BJP six and the Congress and the Shiv Sena two each.

In the second phase of the ongoing elections to the municipal councils, 14 local bodies in Pune and Latur districts went to the polls on Wednesday, results of which were declared on Thursday.

--IANS

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