BJP registers comfortable twin wins in Solapur and Ichalkaranji civic bodies

Kolhapur: The BJP won two municipal corporations, Solapur and Ichalkaranji, on its own, enabling the party to elect mayors without the support of any other party. However, in the Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad municipal corporation, the BJP fell short by one seat for a comfortable majority. The party is now expected to secure the required support from the Shiv Sena, which won just two seats, and does not require the backing of Ajit Pawar-led NCP.In Kolhapur, the BJP contested as part of the Mahayuti alliance, which comfortably crossed the majority mark by winning 45 out of the 81 seats in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC). The Congress, which contested 74 seats, leaving six for Shiv Sena (UBT) and one for an independent, managed to win 34 seats on its own to emerge as the single largest party. Sena (UBT) managed to win just one seat, while the independent candidate was defeated.Within the Mahayuti, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 26 seats, followed closely by Shiv Sena with as many seats, while the NCP won four. The distribution has set the stage for intense negotiations among the three alliance partners over the sharing of key positions in the KMC, with the BJP and Shiv Sena both eyeing the mayor's post, setting up a likely tug-of-war.Congress MLC Satej Patil, who single-handedly took his party to 34 seats, up from 27 that the party won in 2015, said, "Congress will sit in the opposition and play an effective role. We will ensure taxpayers' money is utilised properly and will hold Mahayuti responsible to fulfil the promises made by them. They cannot bulldoze anything; they have to take us in confidence."In Sangli, NCP contested 33 seats and won 16 of them. Their leaders hoped that the party would get the role of "king maker". But both BJP and Shiv Sena safely crossed the halfway mark and do not require any external help.Congress and NCP (SP) had formed an alliance in Sangli. The former won 18 seats, while the latter got three. Congress was led by independent MP Vishal Patil and MLA Vishwajeet Kadam.In Solapur, BJP requires no outside support since it won 79 seats in the 102-seat corporation. Shiv Sena won just four seats. In the maiden election for Ichalkaranji, BJP won handsomely with 43 seats in the 65-seat corporation. Shiv Shahu Aghadi, which was the main opposition, won 17 seats.