Counting underway for Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti polls in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Counting of votes for elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra began on Monday morning.

The elections, originally scheduled for February 5, were held on February 7 after being postponed due to the death of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash and the subsequent three days of state mourning.

The counting began at 10 am for the elections, which recorded a turnout of 68.28 per cent among the 2.08 crore voters.

The elections covered 12 Zilla Parishads – Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Latur to elect 731 members, along with 1,462 seats in 125 panchayat samitis in their jurisdiction.

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A total of 2,624 candidates contested the Zilla Parishad polls, and 4,814 candidates were in the fray for the Panchayat Samiti elections.

Voters cast two votes, one for the Zilla Parishad constituency and another for the Panchayat Samiti electoral division. White ballot papers were used for Zilla Parishad elections, and pink ballot papers for Panchayat Samiti elections.

Seen as the first major electoral test since the tragedy, the polls were closely watched for signals on the future direction and unity of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), whose factions contested in an alliance in their western Maharashtra strongholds.

The results are expected to shape the future course for the NCP factions of late Ajit Pawar and party founder Sharad Pawar.

The two factions had set aside their bitter two-year rivalry to contest these local body polls in an informal alliance in Pune, Satara, Solapur and Sangli, where candidates from both sides contested under the original ‘clock’ symbol.

They had also joined hands for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation elections last month.

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