Civic polls: 51 pc voting in Navi Mumbai, 65 pc in Aurangabad

About 51 percent of voters exercised the franchise to elect 111 members of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, whereas 65 per cent voters turned up to elect 111 members of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation in the elections held today.
Counting of votes will take place on Thursday.
Aurangabad has 113 wards, however two Shiv Sena candidates -- in wards 100 and 103 -- had already been elected unopposed.
Shiv Sena and BJP contested in an alliance in both municipal corporations while the Congress and NCP contested separately.
Sena is in power in Aurangabad for the last 30 years whereas Navi Mumbai, a satellite town of Mumbai, is known to be a stronghold of NCP leader Ganesh Naik.

"We were in the fray in Aurangabad and the result will prove how Muslim voters have accepted us an alternative," MIM MLA Imtiaz Jaleel said, adding that he hoped for a big victory.

State BJP chief Raosaheb Danve however said that BJP- Shiv Sena alliance will win in Aurangabad.
In Aurangabad, a total of 8,95,940 voters (Male-4,30,635, female- 3,85,305) cast votes. There were minor incidents of stone-pelting and scuffles.
Elsewhere, the voting percentages in civic polls were as follows: Ambernath municipal council: 48.81 percent, Kulgaon-Badlapur municipal council: 59 percent, Rajgurunagar (Pune): 72 per cent, Varangaon (Jalgaon): 77.23 per cent, Bhokar (Nanded): 74.4 per cent, Movad (Nagpur): 87.90 per cent and Wadi (Nagpur) municipal council: 62.3 per cent.

Of the 2,827 gram panchayats where elections were held, 387 panchayats were elected unopposed.
"Counting will start at 10 am on Thursday and the election code of conduct will be over once all the results are declared," said the state election commissioner.