​BJP wins Nashik Municipal Corporation, Shiv Sena comes second

Nashik: BJP on Thursday secured simple majority in the Nashik Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra by winning 66 out of the 122 seats.

The saffron party captured the NMC for the first time.

MNS, which controlled the municipal corporation, faced a debacle, as it could win only five seats this time.

Shiv Sena was at number two, winning 35 seats.

NCP and Congress won six seats each, RPI won one seat and independent candidates won in three places

Prior to this election, the Sena-ruled Mumbai and Thane in alliance with BJP, MNS had Nashik, BJP had Nagpur, Akola, the NCP had Pimpri-Chichwad, Pune and Ulhasnagar, while the Congress was in power in Solapur and Amravati.

The BJP had also put up a splendid performance in municipal elections held across the state in November-January, an outcome hailed by the party leaders as endorsement of the demonetisation and other key policies of the governments at the Centre and in the state.

In 2012, the NCP had won 265 seats across these 10 municipal corporations, while the Congress had won 264 seats. The Shiv Sena had won 227 seats while BJP had won 205 seats.

The BJP also improved its performance in rural areas, traditionally dominated by the Congress and the NCP.

(With PTI inputs)