Congress ahead in Vidarbha

Nagpur, Mar 12 (UNI) The Congress has emerged as the single largest party in as many as five of the seven Zilla Parishads (ZP) in Vidarbha region which went to polls yesterday.

The Congress has emerged as the single largest party in Wardha, Chandrapur, Amravati, Yavatmal and Buldhana, while Bharatiya Janata Party has improved its last time's performance and bagged maximum number of seats in Nagpur ZP. Similarly, in Gadchiroli ZP, the Nationalist Congress Party has emerged as the largest party.

In Nagpur ZP, BJP won maximum of 24 seats while Congress could get only 14 seats. The NCP got eleven seats while Shiv Sena had to remain satisfied with four seats. Three candidates of the Kisan Vikas Aghadi of former MPCC Chief Ranjit Deshmukh also emerged victorious. One candidates each of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Gondwana Gantantra Party and an independent also romped home. In Panchayat Samiti polls, BJP won 36 seats while the Congress and the NCP bagged 32 and 23 seats each.

In Chandrapur ZP, Congress won 23 out of total 57 seats with BJP bagging 19 seats. The tally of NCP, Shetkari Sanghatana, Bahujan Samaj Party and Shiv Sena was five, three, two and one respectively.

Four independents also won the election. In the Panchayat Samiti elections, Congress won 45 out of 114 seats while BJP won 40.

Similarly, Sena and BSP won four seats each and NCP and Shetkari Sanghatana won seven seats each.

In Gadchiroli district, results of 45 out of total 51 ZP seats were declared. Out of this, the NCP won 18 while Congress could manage only nine seats. The Sena and BJP bagged six and four seats respectively. In the Panchayat Samiti, the NCP won 25 out of the 73 seats. The Congress won 18 seats while Sena and BJP won seven seats each. Some 15 independents also emerged victorious.

Of the 51 ZP seats and 102 PS seats in Wardha, the Congress has won 65 seats. The NCP has won 32 seats while the BJP-Sena combine got 25. Independents bagged 32 seats.

In Yavatmal district, Congress has won 28 out of the 68 ZP seats.

Sixteen seats were bagged by the NCP while Sena and BJP had to be satisfied with five seats each. Independents won seven seats. In Panchayat Samiti, Congress and NCP romped home with 46 and 21 seats respectively. The Sena and BJP won 26 and 11 seats respectively. The remaining seats went to Parivartan panel, BSP and independents.

In Amravati district, the Congress has emerged as the single largest party winning 15 of the total 54 seats. Sena was in the second place with eleven seats. The NCP and BJP have won seven seats each. There are 59 seats in the Amravati ZP but elections were held for 54 seats only as people from Dharni had boycotted the elections protesting the proposed Tapi project and, so, elections to three seats were postponed.

In Buldhana district, Congress is set to retain power with the help of like-minded parties, having bagged 21 seats out of the total 59. The NCP has won eleven seats in this district. As for Sena and BJP, they have bagged 16 and four seats respectively. In Panchayat Samiti polls also, the Congress has emerged as the largest party winning 39 of the total 118 seats. The NCP, Sena and BJP have won 20, 29 and 21 seats respectively.

UNI