Maharashtra govt issues gazette notification on BMC election results

Mumbai, Jan 20 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has notified the final results of the January 15 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections by publishing the names of all newly-elected corporators from 227 wards across the metropolis in a gazette, civic officials said on Tuesday.

In the elections, whose counting was conducted on January 16, the BJP won 89 seats, while the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde secured 29, taking the alliance (whose total tally stood at 118) past the halfway mark of 114 required to control India's largest and richest civic body.

A senior BMC official said the Maharashtra government issued a gazette notification on January 19, containing the names of elected candidates, their political affiliations, and the number of valid votes secured.

The notification was issued under the authority of Mumbai municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani.

As per the notification, the results have been declared in accordance with the provisions of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, the Election Rules, 2006, and directions issued by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC).

As per procedure, the newly-elected corporators are required to register their names with the Konkan Divisional Commissioner at Belapur in Navi Mumbai and submit the receipt issued to them from there, along with original winning certificate, to the BMC municipal secretary's office, the official explained.

The official further said that till Tuesday evening, only 24 corporators from the Congress party had submitted their receipts and original winning certificates at the BMC headquarters after registering their party group at Konkan Bhawan, Belapur.

The state government has announced January 22 as the date for draw of lottery for the Mayor's post, which will determine the category for which the position will be reserved.

Once the lottery draw takes place, a notification will be issued in newspapers, after which interested candidates can file nomination forms for the Mayor's post. The Mayoral election can be held only after a seven-day gap following the issuance of the notification.

Among other parties, the Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-NCP (SP) alliance secured 72 seats.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), which ruled the civic body for 25 years since 1997 as an undivided political party, won 65 seats, while its allies, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), won 6 and 1 seat, respectively.

Among others, the Congress won 24 seats, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) 8, the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar 3 and the Samajwadi Party 2. Two independent candidates also won in the high-stakes elections held after a four-year delay.

In the previous BMC elections in 2017, the undivided Shiv Sena emerged as the largest party with 84 seats followed closely by the BJP (82). The Congress had won 31 seats, NCP (9), MNS (7), SP (6), AIMIM (2), Akhil Bharatiya Sena (1), and others (5).

The BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena had contested the last elections separately. PTI KK RSY