Bhopal: The ruling BJP and opposition Congress won two mayor's seats each in Madhya Pradesh while an independent candidate won another post on Wednesday, officials said. Elections for these posts had been held in the second phase, on July 13. Overall, of 16 mayoral posts in the state, the BJP has won nine and Congress five seats.
One seat went to AAP and another to Independent. In Rewa municipal corporation, Ajay Mishra Baba of Congress won the mayoral election by 10,301 votes, defeating BJP candidate Prabodh Vyas. Congress won the mayor's seat in Rewa for the first time since a direct election for the post was introduced in 1999.
In Morena, Sharada Solanki of Congress won the mayoral election by 14,631 votes, defeating the BJP's Meena Mukesh Jatav. Morena municipal corporation is part of the Morena Lok Sabha seat, represented by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. In Dewas, the BJP's Geeta Agrawal won the mayoral election by defeating Vinodini Vyas of Congress by 45,889 votes.
The BJP's Prahlad Patel won in Ratlam municipal corporation too by defeating Mayank Singh Jat of Congress by 8,591 votes. In Katni municipal corporation, independent candidate Priti Sanjeev Suri defeated her nearest rival and BJP candidate Jyoti Dixit by 5,287 votes. Katni is part of the Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat, the constituency of state BJP chief V D Sharma.
Also read: MP municipal polls: In Scindia's Gwalior, BJP loses big
Polling was held in five municipal corporations, 40 nagar palikas and 169 nagar parishads across 43 districts in the second phase. The elections were held on party lines. In the first phase of mayoral elections in 11 cities, for which counting was held on Sunday, the BJP had won seven seats while the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party had won three and one mayoral posts.
The BJP won the mayoral elections in Bhopal, Indore, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Satna, Sagar, Ujjain, Dewas and Ratlam. The Congress won in Jabalpur, Gwalior, Chhindwara, Rewa and Morena. In the previous mayoral polls in 2014-2015, the BJP had won in all 16 municipal bodies. Urban civic body elections for 413 municipalities, including 16 municipal corporations, 99 municipal councils and 298 Nagar Parishads were held in two phases in Madhya Pradesh - July 6 and July 13. (PTI)
