Major embarrassment for parties like Congress, BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena
Palghar : Vasai MLA Hitendra Thakur-led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) defeated its opponents and handsomely won 105 of the 115 seats in the elections for the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) the results of which were declared on Tuesday. The Congress – NCP alliance recorded a duck while the Shiv Sena –BJP alliance managed only 5 seats as both the alliances scored miserably as compared to the last election.
The Lokhitwadi Party, supported by former MLA Vivek Pandit which had won 19 seats in last edition, had supported the Shiv Sena – BJP alliance and had contested on only 11 seats. The corporation results were similar on the lines on Assembly election in 2014 when Pandit lost.
Former chief minister Ashok Chavan visited Vasai taluka twice for campaigning for his party candidates but couldn’t increase the vote share as party’s alliance with the NCP didn’t encourage people to vote for them. The NCP is yet to open its account in Vasai taluka while the Congress lost the only 2 seats which they had won in the last edition.
All the star campaigners across the parties and senior leaders, MPs and MLAs including state environment minister Ramdas Kadam, Anil Desai, Subhash Desai, Shiv Sena youth leader Aditya Thackeray, BJP MP Chintaman Vanga, minister Vishnu Savra, former union minister Oscar Fernandes failed to get enough seats for their respective parties.
“People have voted for development and amenities given by the VVMC. Our target is people’s welfare and development and we will stick to that. We thank the people for their tremendous support and will continue to serve them”, said senior leader and BVA spokesperson Ajiv Patil.
There were no close fights barring the one in ward number 77 where Shiv Sena candidate Shilpa Singh won with a very slim margin of 15 votes and defeated a BVA candidate. Rest most of the winning margins were huge and a clear winner was seen after the first round itself.
The streets of Vasai taluka turned yellow as thousands of BVA supporters took to streets to celebrate their success. Every lane had a rally and every street was crowded with supporters who had assembled to greet their winning candidates.
Vishal Rajemahadik
