Panvel: Post results, BJP, Sena downplay electoral rivalry

NAVI MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections by winning 51 out of the 78 seats in the maiden election for the 78-member house of the PCMC, whose results were declared on Friday. However, a day after the verdict on Saturday, both the BJP and Shiv Sena downplayed the perception that there was any bitterness in the alliance government and leaders.
The BJP swept the poll even as the party did not have single member in the erstwhile council, while the Sena drew a blank.
Speaking to TOI on Saturday, BJP Panvel MLA, Prashant Thakur said, “The Sena could have agreed to the seat sharing talks, but were interested in finding its vote base.’’ Whereas the Sena sampark pramukh from Raigad district and prominent Marathi actor, Adesh Bandekar said, “Our vote share has increased above 40,000 and we will find more ways to expand our base.”
Thakur affirmed, “Yes, the Sena had got around 17,000 votes in the state assembly poll and the vote share has increased, but we could have always contested the polls together.”
BJP won nine seats out of 11 in Kamothe where Sena supremo, Udhav Thackeray had addressed a rally and made an emotional appeal to the masses by reminding them that his grandfather belonged to Panvel. CM, Devendra Fadnavis, ensured the victory of development face of the government and won 36 of the 49 seats from Kharghar and New Panvel node (that includes the old township) where he addressed rallies; the other two were won by a faction of the RPI in alliance.
The BJP not only targeted around 57% (approximately) of the total electorate in the CM rally, but also ensured that it won maximum seats on its own because it contested 76 out of the 78 seats.
Keeping the 2015 NMMC election in mind, where BJP had won just six seats when they had contested in alliance with the Sena, Fadnavis this time decided to contest the polls without any alliance and won comprehensively
The mood was upbeat in the BJP camp during the vote counting on Friday. “The CM congratulated me and said the promises need to be fulfilled,” said a thrilled Thakur who will be working under CM’s guidance. — Sanjay Banerjee