BJP claims huge win in Maha gram panchayat polls, Cong says false propaganda

Congress dismissed BJP's claim as "false propaganda" and said the highest number of more than 900 sarpanches were elected from the Congress alone while BJP claimed that the party had won more than 3,500 seats in gram panchayat polls in Maharashtra.

Nagpur:Candidates backed by BJP have won more than 3,500 seats in gram panchayat polls in Maharashtra, while those supported by the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena were winning more than 1,000 seats, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed on Tuesday citing trends.

The Congress dismissed BJP's claim as "false propaganda" and said the highest number of more than 900 sarpanchs were elected from the Congress alone. A Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader said a large number of sarpanchs (village heads) from the Thackeray-led faction were being elected.

At least 7,751 gram panchayats in Maharashtra went to polls on December 18. The results will be declared on Tuesday. Gram Panchayat elections are generally not contested based on affiliation to political parties. Speaking to reporters outside the Vidhan Bhavan complex here, Bawankule claimed as per the latest trends, BJP-backed candidates have won in more than 3,500 seats and those supported by the Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were winning in more than 1,000 seats.

The results indicate the confidence people in rural Maharashtra have in the Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government. The entire state is getting "saffronised" and it is a historic win for the BJP, he said. State Congress chief Nana Patole, however, accused the BJP of indulging in false propaganda about the election results.

"The highest number of more than 900 sarpanchs were elected from the Congress alone and the number of sarpanch seats won by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is far more than the BJP," he said. The Congress leader further challenged the BJP to present the exact figures of Nagpur district, where he claimed his party had won more than 200 sarpanch seats.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said a large number of sarpanchs from his faction were being elected. Though full results have not been announced yet, certain parties were claiming huge wins, he said, adding that the results will come out after 3 pm and the Shiv Sena will brief after that. (PTI)