The Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra is unable to celebrate its 39 winning seats, as it will have to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision
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The fate of 57 local body seats in Maharashtra hangs in the balance, awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on January 21. Of these, 39 seats were won by the Mahayuti alliance, 17 by the MVA, and one by another party. These seats are among the 288 municipal councils and nagar panchayats where the combined quota for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes exceeds 50%.
Acting on several petitions challenging the quota violation, the Supreme Court had stated on November 29 that the elections for these 57 seats would be subject to its final order. This decision will also impact the results of the corporator positions in these municipal bodies.
Future hinges on Supreme Court’s decision
An official from the State Election Commission (SEC) said that while the results have been declared, the final outcome will depend on the Supreme Court’s order. Despite a decisive lead, the Mahayuti alliance will have to wait for clarity on its 39 seats (BJP: 30, Shiv Sena: five, NCP: four).
MVA holds 17 seats
The MVA has won 17 seats. Of these, the Congress won 11, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena two, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP four. The situation is no different for them either. A senior BJP leader said that the public mandate is clearly in favor of the Mahayuti, but they will respect the Supreme Court’s decision.
What Congress said
A Congress member said that approximately two-fifths of their seats are under scrutiny. These reflect the public mandate at the grassroots level, and they hope the court will ensure stability and not destabilize the elected bodies.
Seats in Nagpur, Chandrapur, and Nashik
Of the Mahayuti’s total seats, the 39 local bodies violating the 50% quota constitute approximately 18.8% of its total wins. For the MVA, these 17 bodies represent about 38.6% of its victories. Of the 40 municipal councils, eight are in Nagpur district, followed by seven in Chandrapur and five in Nashik.
