Congress sweeps Nanded civic polls; stops BJP juggernaut

MUMBAI: The Congress on Thursday made a clean sweep in the Nanded-Waghala municipal corporation elections, winning 49 of the 54 seats for which results were declared. Results for 54 seats, out of the total 81, have been declared so far. Nanded is Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan's home turf and it saw an aggressive campaign, with BJP making all efforts to wrest control of the civic body. The campaign for the polls witnessed a bitter war of words among the Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena. Of the results declared so far, BJP has won three, while Shiv Sena is placed a distant third, winning a solitary seat. The results indicate a rout of the AIMIM, which had around a dozen corporators in the outgoing body. The Congress has 41 members in the outgoing civic body, followed by 14 corporators of the Shiv Sena, 11 of the AIMIM and Nationalist Congress Party's 10. The municipal corporation of Nanded has been ruled by the Congress, since it came into existence two decades ago. The BJP won 12 of the 16 civic bodies, for which polls were held this year, expanding its footprint in Maharashtra's urban areas.