Mahayuti wins big in Maharashtra ZP, panchayat polls; BJP leads alliance

The BJP-led Mahayuti swept the Zilla Parishad and panchayat samiti polls in Maharashtra, results of which were declared on Monday, continuing the winning streak that started with the stellar performance in the 2024 assembly polls.

The Mahayuti won 552 of 731 ZP seats and more than 1000 of the 1462 panchayat samiti seats, the State Election Commission said.

In the ruling Mahayuti, the BJP led with 225 ZP seats, followed by 165 for the Nationalist Congress Party and 162 for the Shiv Sena.

In the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Congress emerged on top with 55 ZP seats, followed by 43 for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and 26 for Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP). The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena won a seat each in Latur and Ratnagiri.

 

Independents won 20 seats, unrecognised parties registered with the SEC got 14 and parties registered with SEC won seven.

NCP won the Pune ZP getting 51 of 73 seats. The NCP and NCP (SP) had contested on the 'clock' symbol, the elections taking place just days after the death of Ajit Pawar on January 28 in a plane crash.

Shiv Sena won Raigad ZP getting 23 of 59 seats. The Eknath Shinde-led party also won 41 of 56 seats in Ratnagiri ZP.

BJP scored in Sindhudurg emerging victorious on 27 of 50 seats. The BJP also emerged as the single largest party in Satara, Solapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv, Satara and Latur.

Congress was the single largest party in Kolhapur.

In the 1462 seats in 125 panchayat samitis, the BJP won 459, followed by 306 for the NCP and 302 for the Shiv Sena.

The Congress won 97, NCP (SP) 46 and Shiv Sena (UBT) 89.

The MNS won two seats, Independents 31, unrecognised parties registered with SEC 36, while parties recognised outside the state but registered with the SEC got 17 seats, the poll body said.

Results of 24 seats in Karad were awaited, it added.

Counting of votes for elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis began at 10 am.

PM Modi thanks Maharashtra for BJP-led Mahayuti's win in ZP polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked the people of Maharashtra for supporting the BJP-led Mahayuti in the zilla parishad elections, terming it as a vote for "good governance."  "Once again, Maharashtra blesses BJP and Mahayuti! After the resounding success of the BJP and Mahayuti in the Municipal Corporation and Municipal Council elections, the people of Maharashtra have given a strong mandate to us in the Zilla Parishad elections," Modi said in a post on X.

The BJP, Shiv Sena, and the NCP of the Mahayuti were on course of a resounding victory in the zilla parishad elections in Maharashtra having taken a decisive lead in over 560 of the 731 seats that went to polls in 12 zilla parishad and 125 panchayat samitis.

The prime minister said the results make it clear that across rural and urban Maharashtra, the people of the state want good governance and an alliance which works in the spirit of the state's glorious culture.

"I express gratitude to my sisters and brothers of Maharashtra," he said.

Modi also complimented every worker of the Mahayuti for working "tirelessly" on the ground and elaborating on the solid track record of the Maharashtra government as well as NDA's vision for good governance.