MVA, BJP both claim victory in Maharashtra panchayat polls: All you need to know

A total of 214,880 candidates were in the fray for 125,709 seats; elections took place on January 15, the counting on Monday

Partners in the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi — Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — won 58% of the 12,711 seats that went to polls on January 15. However, among all parties individually, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the highest number, with the Sena a close second. Results of all seats were not announced till late on Monday and a clear picture is expected by Tuesday. Here is a look at the key aspects of the polls:

People celebrate the gram panchayat election results in Mankoli village, Thane, near Mumbai. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

• The Bharatiya Janata Party won about 2,600 gram panchayats (village councils), followed by the Sena (2,570), of the 11,800 panchayats whose results were declared late Monday evening.

• The NCP and Congress bagged 2,400 and 1,825 panchayats respectively, while local panels and independents won over 2,335.

• A total of 214,880 candidates were in the fray for 125,709 seats.

• At least 26,718 members in 1,665 panchayats were elected unopposed.

• Another 162 panchayats in Gadchiroli will go to the polls on January 20.

Village panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols

• The parties claim victory on the basis of the local panels formed by the candidates affiliated with them.

• Some of the panels at the local level claim their affiliations to more than one party.

• Three ruling parties fought the elections separately.

• The BJP declared victory, but the MVA parties insisted that the number of panchayats won by them together was much higher.

• Of the 27,782 gram panchayats in the state, 14,432 were due for the elections last year.

• The elections were deferred because of the Covid-19 pandemic.