 "Why public mood changed in a year: Shiv Sena asks BJP")
The Shiv Sena on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to ponder why the public mood changed in one year since the assembly polls as is evident in the results of Sunday's elections to around 60 big and small civic bodies across Maharashtra.
"In many parts of the state, the Congress-NCP performed quite well in the civic elections. Why has the public 'mood' changed so much in just one year? The CM must give a thought to this," the Sena urged in an edit in the party mouthpiece Saamana.
After fighting separately the assembly elections in October 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena have jointly ruled the state for a year.
Referring to the outcome in the bitterly fought Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections, the Shiv Sena said though it was challenged, it "roared" loudly and the people have put it on the threshold of capturing power.
With all parties fighting elections separately to capture the 122-member house, the Sena secured 52 seats -- 10 short of a simple majority of 62 -- while the BJP came second with 42 seats.
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"The other political parties were swept away like dry leaves... The Congress got four, Nationalist Congress Party managed two seats, though they were making tall claims of coming to power independently," the edit said.
On the other hand, the BJP had made it a prestige issue with the chief minister and his soldiers luring voters with the announcement of a Rs 6,000 crore Smart City package right at the start of the election campaign, the Sena said.
"The public mood is mixed but in favour of the Sena. In the 2014 assembly elections, the BJP won in Kalyan-Dombivali which is essentially a Sena bastion, and this was proved again by the outcome of the civic polls."
However, the Sena said it accepted the result "with all humility" and would work for the development of the KDMC area.
Referring to Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC), the Sena conceded that with the help of a local ally, Tararani Aghadi, the BJP secured a fair number of seats, and despite all out efforts, the NCP could not go beyond 15 seats while the Congress got 27 in the 81-member house.
It is clear that if the Congress-NCP join hands, they can rule the KMC, it pointed out.
On the poll outcome in other 58 municipal council and village panchayats (besides the two corporations - KDMC and KMC), the Sena said it threw up a mixed pack.
While the BJP lost in its stronghold Beed, the NCP scored well there, which does not augur well for the state polity.
The Sena won in civic bodies where it had never scored before, but the Vidarbha region, which stood solidly behind the BJP in the last assembly elections, seemed to have deserted it this time.