Behind BJP win in MP civic polls, several mini-victories for Cong; AAP, AIMIM make gains | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express

From 0 mayor seats in 2014, Cong tally now 5; BJP loses in bastions of its stalwarts Tomar, Scindia, Narottam Mishra, state chief V D Sharma

While the BJP was the clear winner, the Congress is also seeing several positives in results for the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh. After those for the second phase were declared Wednesday, the BJP was set to control 11 of the 16 corporations, 50 of the 76 municipalities and 150 of the 215 councils. The Congress won just five corporations, but this victory will be precious for the party coming after a wipeout in the 2014 local body polls, followed by the fall of its government in 2020 and losses in ensuing bypolls.

State party chief Kamal Nath declared it the party’s best performance since 1999, when direct elections to mayoral seats started in the state – a boost that the party desperately needed ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.

Among the corporations where the Congress is set to have its mayor are Morena and Rewa, while Katni will have a BJP rebel who stood as an Independent as mayor.

The AIMIM and AAP, making their debut in the bi-polar MP contest, also expressed satisfaction at the results. While AAP won as many as 40 wards in all, the AIMIM won seven, three of them in riot-hit Khargone, which saw its latest round of communal tension on April 10.

The BJP lost mayoral seats in Morena, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Katni, Rewa, Singrauli and Chhindwara, while winning Dewas, Ratlam, Indore, Ujjain, Khandwa, Burhanpur, Bhopal, Satna and Sagar.

https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/bjp-win-in-mp-civic-polls-cong-aap-aimim-8043476/

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