BJP trumps Congress-NCP in Sangli district council polls as 3Sena members vote for ex-ally

Days after Shiv Sena and BJP broke ties in Maharashtra after Sena joined hands with NCP-Congress to form a Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra,  it has helped the BJP to win the Zilla Parishad polls. The incident pertains to Sangli district where three Sena members voted for the BJP making them the winner against the Congress and the NCP.  When asked for their reason to support the saffron party, they said that Sena and BJP had fought the state polls together.  

In the Zilla Parishad polls in Sangli held on January 2, the BJP won 35 votes whereas the Cong-NCP alliance won 22, making the former a clear winner. BJP's Prajakta Kore became the chairman and Shivaji Dongre the vice-chairman. Sources informed that Sena MLA Anil Babar said that there is no harm in supporting the old ally. This comes even as Sena and BJP has been targeting each other since the day they parted ways. Babbar said:

"BJP was an ally. We fought the assembly election together. We have not done anything without intimation to the party leadership. We have always fought elections against Congress-NCP, how can we vote for them now." 

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Earlier, what served as a first shock to the Maha Vikas Aghadi, BJP trumped the Shiv Sena-Congress alliance, by supporting Konark Vikas Aghadi mayor candidate Pratibha Patil in the Bhiwandi Mayor polls. Sources say that while Congress (47 seats) and Shiv Sena (12 seats) had the numbers to trump the BJP (19 seats) in the city, 18 Congress corporators refused to support the Sena-Congress alliance and voted for the BJP's choice instead. Due to the sudden shift in allegiance, Congress' pick Rishika Raka managed to get 41 votes compared to Pratibha Patil who managed to get 49 votes in the 90 seat Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation. 

READ: Setback for Shiv Sena-Cong in Bhiwandi mayor polls, 18 Cong corporators vote for BJP

Sena retains BMC

While Shiv Sena lost the Bhiwandi Mayor polls, it won both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor polls in Mumbai Mayor polls, retaining India's richest civic body -Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Shiv Sena's Kishori Pednekar and Suhas Wadkar won the Mayor and Deputy Mayor post on November 22, after BJP's Ashish Shelar bowed out of the race. In 2017, the former allies BJP-Sena had bitterly fought the civic elections separately but later the BJP had supported the Sena nominee for Mayor's post in 227- seat Corporation.

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Mahayuti fallout

Almost a month after elections, the president's rule was imposed after no party could prove a majority. The BJP-Sena which fell out squabbling over a 50-50 power-sharing and shared CM post bagged 161 seats (BJP- 105, Shiv Sena-56). Meanwhile, the Maha Aghadi won 98 seats (NCP -54, Congress) and chose to ally with Shiv Sena, forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi. This was preceded by 4-day CM stint by Fadnavis, which fell after Ajit Pawar rescinded his support after the Supreme Court ordered an open ballot floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly immediately. However, both Pawar and Fadnais resigned and Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on November 28 along with six ministers — two each from alliance partners the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress.

READ: "Will he break alliance & resign?" Uma Bharti dares CM Uddhav as Cong targets Savarkar