The results of the Thane Municipal elections will be declared on Thursday after the counting of votes begins at 10 AM. About 56 per cent voters had exercised their franchise across 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including for the all-important Mumbai civic body BMC, on February 21.
Thane Municipal Corporation consists of 130 wards. Voter turnout for Thane Municipal Corporation was 58%. As of now, Shiv Shena has won 60 seats while BJP has won 21 seats and NCP has won 31 seats.
The BJP and its former ally Shiv Sena, who could not form an alliance for the civic poll in the megapolis or elsewhere this time, fought keenly, lashing out freely at each other during the bitter campaign. The stakes are high for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, who led their respective parties from the front and were involved in a no-holds-barred campaign.
The Opposition Congress, the NCP and other players like the MNS and the AIMIM are unlikely to be in the lead. The civic polls in Maharashtra are being watched keenly as people are seeing these elections as a semi-final to Maharashtra assembly elections in 2019.
The results will also be equated with the acceptance of the demonetisation decision of the BJP government at the Centre.
Claiming that the BJP would make inroads into several civic bodies, a senior state party leader said, that the party may fall short of a majority in some seats while in others, Shiv Sena may need its support. “If the Shiv Sena manages to get maximum number seats in Mumbai (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), but falls short of a majority, it will need our support. They could also need our support in Thane Municipal Corporation,” he said.
