BMC polls 2017 spell disaster for the NCP

With desertions and the maha election shocker in the BMC polls, the Nationalist Congress Party is in need of urgent introspection

Despite having a strong rural base, the results of the 25 zilla parishads (district council) and 10 municipal corporation polls have jolted the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party making it one of the biggest losers in the recently-held polls in Maharashtra.

This has now raised questions for a party which was at the helm of the state for 15 years. Pawar's daughter and NCP leader Supriya Sule said the results were a 'setback', since it lost three municipal corporations and a zilla parishad to the BJP.

The NCP lost Amrawati and Solapur - municipal corporations which were being ruled in alliance with the Congress. It was also routed from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad -- its traditional strongholds, as well as in Ulhasnagar civic body to the BJP. Ajit Pawar, the face of the Maharashtra irrigation scam, is left standing alone with his loyalists joining hands with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Fun fact 1: Back in Mumbai, party chief Sharad Pawar exercised his vote in ward no 214, where there was no NCP candidate contesting!

Fadnavis brought in those who had been associated with the Shiv Sena in Pune and the NCP in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The party managed to get only 38 seats in Pune and 36 in Pimpri-Chinchwad, suffering a loss of 60 seats.Both these cities will now have BJP mayors. Hours after the results were announced, Pune unit president Vandana Chavan resigned from her post. So now, the NCP would be the opposition party in Pune.

BMC elections 2017: How BJP tamed the tiger in Maharashtra for the 3rd time

In the previous election in 2012, the NCP had won 266 seats - but this time, it has lost 129 seats --the number is now down to 137. Again, in the same elections, the party had won 511 seats, but this time around, it has come down to 336 seats - a loss of 175 seats. To add to the injury, the NCP got just 14 of 40 seats in Sangli - the district where they had gained 33 seats in 2012.

Fun fact 2: The shocker for the NCP came a day after Sharad Pawar completed 50 years in politics

Political analysts say that one reason for the political drubbing could be the social unrest that took place in the last few months against the backdrop of the Maratha agitation.

The signs that the NCP's hold was diminishing over Pune was witnessed during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Several NCP workers have also deserted the party over the last few months.

Ironically, Sharad Pawar had asserted that his party would not bail out the BJP government in Maharashtra if it is reduced to minority and had dared the Shiv Sena to withdraw support to it, on February 18. The Maratha strongman had claimed that the BJP would not have an upper hand in the civic polls and had alleged that the central leadership of the party was 'plotting' to weaken the Shiv Sena.

OneIndia News