Mira-Bhayander civic polls: Battle between Shiv Sena, BJP, Congress, NCP may spring surprise wins, results on Monday

About 509 candidates are in the fray for 95 seats; 47% voter turnout recorded

The fight for Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) is likely to be a close contest.

BJP MLA Narendra Mehta after casting vote for the MBMC polls on Sunday. (HTphoto)

The four-way battle between the Shiv Sena, BJP, Congress and NCP is likely to reduce victory margins and spring a surprise wins. The civic poll held on Sunday saw 47% voter turnout, which was 52% in 2012. Mira-Bhayander has a population of 8.4 lakh.

About 509 candidates are in the fray for 95 seats, results for which will be declared on Monday.

The voting started with a low turn-out in the morning and continued at snail’s pace throughout the day. By 12pm, the voting percentage was just 14%. It touched 36% by 3.30pm, said a senior official from state election commission.

JS Saharia, state election commissioner, said, “The average voting percentage for MBMC elections is 47%. Counting will start tomorrow morning and results will be declared by evening.”

Before being ruled by the Sena-BJP combine, the MBMC was a Congress-NCP bastion. However, the tenure of the saffron allies has been fraught with tiffs.

The most prominent being the BJP’s decision to enforce an eight-day meat ban during the Jain festival of Paryushan.

With nine civic corporations, including Mumbai, in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the saffron allies are leaving no stone unturned to outdo each other.

While the Sena-BJP combine rules the Kalyan civic body, the Sena has an upper hand in Mumbai and Thane. While Congress retained Bhiwandi-Nizampur civic body, the NCP held on to Navi Mumbai.

The BJP controls Panvel civic body and shares power with local parties in Ulhasnagar and Vasai-Virar corporations.