BJP Leads Maharashtra Rural Polls, Fadnavis Hails Development Mandate

The BJP has once again emerged as the largest party in 12 Zilla Parishads.

And it is now clear that the Mahayuti will come to power in these 12 Zilla Parishads. He emphasised that the mandate is a green light for the government to accelerate agricultural reforms and rural infrastructure projects, specifically mentioning the expansion of the solar feeder scheme for 24/7 farm power.

At the press conference, he dismissed the narrative that the BJP is only an "urban party", pointing to the ZP leads as evidence of deep-rooted support in rural Maharashtra.

He stated that the people have chosen the "politics of development" over the "politics of emotional appeals" used by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

He added that large-scale investments (like those from Davos) and infrastructure projects (Metro, Highways) are the primary reasons for the voters' trust. "BJP has also broken its 2017 record by winning more seats," he said.

"As led the results declared so far, BJP is number one in about 60 places. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Sindhudurg, Sangli, Dharashiv, Parbhani and Satara. Shiv Sena is number one in two places, Ratnagiri and Raigad. Nationalist Congress is number one in Pune. And in Kolhapur and Latur, where all three parties fought together, the grand alliance is number one, said Devendra Fadnavis. but in the results declared so far, BJP has got 236 seats," said CM Fadnavis.

Talking about the Panchayat Samiti election results, CM Fadnavis said that in 2017, the BJP had a total of 284 seats, but in the trends announced so far, the BJP has won 410 seats. "If we look at the trends of 125 Panchayat Samiti, out of these, 50 Panchayat Samiti will be with the BJP, 26 with the Shiv Sena, 23 with the Nationalist Congress Party, the remaining 7-8 with the Congress, 7-8 with Sharad Pawar's party and 5 seats with the Shiv Sena (Thackeray) party. Therefore, here too, the Mahayuti has been able to win more than 100 out of 125 Panchayat Samiti," he remarked.

CM Fadnavis also remembered the late Deputy Chief Minister of the state, Ajit Pawar, who passed away untimely.

"Unfortunately, during this election, a senior leader of our Mahayuti, Ajitdada Pawar, passed away, which is also a source of grief for all of us. Therefore, I had decided myself that I would not campaign. Therefore, a video of an appeal was broadcast in all the district councils. But overall, the mentality of the rural areas of Maharashtra has come to the fore through this," he noted.

The CM hailed the results as a "victory for the people's faith" in the Mahayuti alliance, despite the somber backdrop of the recent passing of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

He credited the late Ajit Pawar for the strong showing of the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) in districts like Pune and Kolhapur, noting that voters have paid the ultimate tribute to Pawar's legacy by ensuring a clean sweep in his home turf of Baramati.

- IANS